A week ago, the tragic news of Marshawn Kneeland’s death swept through Cowboys Nation and the rest of the NFL.
That he’d taken his own life, becoming the sixth active NFL player to have committed suicide during the season, made the news all that more sad.
Of those six, four of them have occurred since 2010. And that doesn’t include Junior Seau’s suicide in 2012, less than three years after he had retired.
Nearly 100 Deaths
Kneeland was the 75th active pro football player to die during the regular season. Another 17 died after leaving the league to join the U.S. armed forces and were killed in action.
Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan in 2004 was the most recent.
Two other NFL players were killed in the Vietnam War while the rest were killed during World War II.
Only one player has died during a game. Although Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin nearly made it two near the end of the 2022 season.
Detroit Lions receiver Chuck Hughes suffered a heart attack on Oct. 24, 1971 in a game against the Chicago Bears.
His cause of death was cardiac arrest. But a spleen injury suffered the week before at Houston was listed as a contributing factor in his death.
Howard Glenn was an offensive guard for the AFL’s New York Titans in 1960. During a game in Houston against the Oilers on Oct. 9th, Glenn suffered a broken neck.
He died later that day at a Houston hospital.
Running back Stone Johnson of the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck during a game. This one a preseason game against Houston in Wichita, Kansas on Aug. 20, 1963.
He died ten days later at a Wichita hospital.
Four of the 75 players were murdered. Washington’s Sean Taylor and Denver’s Darrent Williams died in separate shootings in 2007.
Indianapolis’ Shane Curry in 1992 and Philadelphia’s Blenda Gay in 1976 were the other two.
The others died from illness or in accidents.
Before Kneeland, the most recent in-season NFL death had been Vikings defensive back Kyree Jackson.
Jackson was killed in a car accident in Maryland just prior to the opening of training camp in 2024. Three players died in 2022, the most notable being Dwayne Haskins who was struck by a vehicle while walking along a highway.
The Cowboys suffered the in-season loss of a teammate back in 2012.
Linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a car accident that year. His teammate, Josh Brent, was the driver of that car.
The Aftermath
In the last week, with the Cowboys on a bye week, many of the players took action in the wake of their loss.
Dak Prescott’s brother Jace, took his own life back in 2020. Prescott has been an outspoken mental health advocate since.
Prescott was in his hometown for a ceremony renaming his high school football field in his honor and spoke to the current students in the hours after Kneeland’s death.
Other players have gone out and performed various community services, hoping to honor Kneeland.
The team will wear decals with the number 94 on their helmets. They will also wear special shirts before their game in Vegas on Monday and again the following Sunday at home against the Eagles.
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