The Dallas Cowboys won against the Raiders on November 17, to honor Marshawn Kneeland. They played at the Raiders home field, Allegiant Stadium.
Marshawn Kneeland died on Nov. 5 while running from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Frisco Police Department because of a traffic violation. It started as a car chase through city limits until authorities found Kneeland’s vehicle shortly after 10:40 p.m. CT. Police searched for him with the help of K-9 dogs and drones. They ended up finding him around 1:30 a.m. CT with a self inflicted gunshot wound. Later the police found out Kneeland had expressed suicidal intentions between finding his vehicle and finding his body.
The last game Marshawn Kneeland played in before his death was on Nov. 3 against the Cardinals. The tragedy happened on Nov. 6 and the Cowboys got off practice until the following Monday. There was grief counseling for the players all throughout the week to help them keep playing. They had a bye week in week 10 and in week 11 played the Raiders.
To honor Kneeland, the Cowboys plan on wearing a decal on their helmets for the rest of the season. During the warmups of the Cowboys versus the Raiders they wore shirts to honor him and plan to wear them again during the warmups of their next game against the Eagles. This will be their first home game since Kneeland’s death.
The Cowboys beat the Raiders 33-16 with four touchdowns, a field goal, and a safety. The touchdowns were scored by CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Jake Ferguson, and Ryan Flournoy. Dak Prescott ended with 268 passing yards.
Brian Schottenheimer said to the press, “But more than anything, I know Marshawn was looking down on us, and we wanted to make him proud. And I think we did that.”
Dak Prescott said, “We’re going to continue to move forward, shining a light on Marshawn and carrying his legacy. And we need to play like this every week moving forward. He’ll always be with us.”
Marshawn Lynch was in his second year of the NFL after being drafted 56th in the 2024 Draft to the Dallas Cowboys from West Michigan University. He played defensive end with 18 total games played and 26 total tackles.
So far the Dallas Cowboys are 4-5-1 after the win against the Raiders. They are playing the Philadelphia Eagles next week and the Kansas City Chiefs the week after that.
