How the Cowboys are trying to move forward after tragedy: “You don’t escape grief”

The Dallas Cowboys returned to practice this week carrying the heavy weight of losing a teammate. Second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, just 24 years old, died November 6 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The tragedy has shaken the locker room, challenged players to process grief in different ways, and forced the team to face the reality of mental health in the most personal way imaginable.

On Thursday, instead of the usual open locker room, the Cowboys made a small group of players available at The Star. Solomon Thomas, Dak Prescott, Ryan Flournoy, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Osa Odighizuwa spoke, each carrying a different piece of the emotional wreckage left behind.

How the Cowboys are healing together after an unthinkable loss

Solomon Thomas: A steady voice born of heartbreak

Thomas, now in his first year with Dallas, has tragically walked this road before. His sister, Ella Thomas, died by suicide in 2018. He also lost a close high school teammate, Jacob Logan, during the 2012 season. That experience made him a natural leader this week, even though Thomas admitted he wasn’t sure he “deserved” to speak at Kneeland’s vigil.

“I just got here,” he said. “I knew Marshawn for about eight months. But I tried to sum up what he meant to me… what he meant to this team.”

Thomas spoke for 12 minutes, his voice breaking at times as he described Kneeland’s daily presence - someone who danced, smiled, and lit up rooms, even while carrying internal battles no one knew.

“That’s the thing with mental health and suicide,” Thomas said. “You just never know what someone’s going through… Someone could be smiling, someone could be laughing, but inside, they could really be fighting the battle that you never know about.”

He pleaded for compassion: “It’s so important to be kind. It’s so important to ask people how they’re doing. As a man, therapy is okay… These are things we need to go through because you never know what battle someone’s going through.”

Osa Odighizuwa: A teammate trusted with the truth

Odighizuwa, one of Kneeland’s closest friends on the team, learned things about the young defensive end that others didn’t see. Kneeland had told him there weren’t many people he fully opened up to. When asked if he had any sense that things could end this way, Odighizuwa struggled.

“I’ve seen him get upset before… everything was 110 percent with him, even his emotions,” he said. “It’s still sinking in. I was at my locker before practice and I looked up and felt like I saw him.”

For Odighizuwa, the grief hits in sudden waves.

“He should still be here,” he said.

Dak Prescott: Returning to the field as medicine

Prescott has suffered loss before, publicly and painfully. So when he stepped onto the practice field Thursday, he already knew what that moment might bring.

“Some guys are going to get on the field and it’s going to hurt. And some guys are going to get out there and it’s going to be the best medicine,” Prescott said.

“For me… that is the best medicine. Handing the ball off and sprinting an extra 10 yards… Marshawn went through my mind a few times. I just countered that with running harder after a play.”

He emphasized the balance: “We’re not forgetting, but we’re moving forward and carrying on the light.”

Navigating grief as a team

Cowboys players have been encouraged to take whatever they need, whether it’s time, space, tears, or calls home. Therapists, psychologists, and team leaders have all been made available.

“You don’t escape grief,” Thomas said. “Grief never leaves you. As soon as you feel like you’re on top of grief, grief will hit you on the head as hard as a rock.”

He’s told teammates to honor whatever they’re feeling.

“If you have to cry, cry. If you have to walk outside during meetings, do that. Feel that grief, feel that pain. Cry, be angry, be confused, because that’s what’s real.”

Moving forward together

For now, the Cowboys are preparing to play football again, but no one is pretending that they’ll be prepared to fully move on. Thomas said that in 2012, after losing his teammate Jacob Logan, the only thing that got the team through was leaning on each other, “loving each other, hugging and crying after every win or loss.” He expects the same now.

“I’ll forever live for Jacob, like I’ll forever live for Marshawn,” he said. “There’s only one way through this, and that’s through love and holding each other high.”

The Cowboys will keep practicing, keep playing, and keep trying to move forward. But they’ll do it carrying Kneeland’s memory, and each other, with every step.

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