Former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Marshawn Kneeland has been diagnosed with Stage 1 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, months after his death at age 24.
The findings were announced Tuesday by the Concussion & CTE Foundation after researchers at the Boston University CTE Center examined brain tissue donated by Kneeland’s family. Stage 1 is the earliest level on the four-stage CTE scale.
CTE is a degenerative brain disease tied to repeated head impacts. It can only be diagnosed after death through a neuropathological examination of brain tissue, though researchers are still working on ways to identify it while someone is alive.
“Unfortunately, I was not surprised to find CTE in the brain of Mr. Kneeland,” Boston University CTE Center director Dr. Ann McKee said (H/T ProFootballTalk).
McKee also said researchers have found the disease in nearly half of the athletes they have studied who died before age 30.
Kneeland entered the league as the 56th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after starring at Western Michigan. He played in 18 career games for Dallas and made four starts. Just days before his death, he scored his first NFL touchdown by recovering a blocked punt against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Concussion & CTE Foundation said Kneeland played in an era with better helmets and concussion protocols. Still, CEO Dr. Chris Nowinski said those advances do not remove the danger of CTE, since the disease is linked to repeated head impacts and not just diagnosed concussions.
Kneeland’s girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, said the diagnosis offers “important context” for some of the struggles he may have dealt with. She said his family wants him remembered for who he was, not for the circumstances of his death.
“We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high contact sport athletes might be struggling with. Raising awareness is important to us. We continue to remember Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life.”
The foundation also said suicide is complex and multifactorial. It stressed that a post-mortem CTE diagnosis should not be treated as the cause of death or as an established risk factor for suicide.
In Other News...
Commanders Just Twisted The Knife On Cowboys' Biggest Secondary Concern
The Commanders kept building out their secondary by adding veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas on a deal reportedly worth $3.8 million, a move that gives Washington another experienced body in a room that still has its own questions. Douglas has been around the league enough to know the job, with stops that include Green Bay and Miami, and his arrival is the sort of depth signing teams make when they want a steadier floor on the back end.
For Dallas, the timing lands with a little more sting because the Cowboys are already dealing with uncertainty at corner. Health concerns around DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel have made the position a real watch item, and the depth behind them is thin enough that every outside move in the division feels a little louder than it otherwise would. In a race where secondary stability matters, Washington just made sure it has one more option while the Cowboys are still sorting out theirs. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Linked To Veteran Answer For A Defense That Needs One
The Cowboys linebacker room remains one of the cleaner places to look for help on a defense that still needs it, and a veteran option has surfaced as a logical fit. Bobby Wagner is coming off another productive season, showing he can still handle a full workload and bring the kind of steadiness that teams lean on when the middle of the defense needs sorting out.
Dallas has at least one added wrinkle here, too, because Brian Schottenheimer already knows Wagner from their Seahawks days. Even so, this is still more of a fit check than a transaction report, with the Cowboys linked to the idea of adding a proven linebacker but no move actually in hand yet. [Read more 🡒]