Dallas Cowboys fans may notice rookie defensive end Marshawn Kneeland wearing a special chain this season as he begins his NFL career. Around his neck during OTAs and minicamp, the second-round draft pick wore a two-inch urn on his chain which contains the ashes of his late mother, Wendy.
Wendy Kneeland passed away this winter and didn’t have the chance to see her son achieve the dream she’d long held for him. Even so, Kneeland was well on his way to becoming one of the draft’s top defenders when she died, and now, the Cowboys rookie carries her with him wherever he goes.
“She’s still with me,” Kneeland said to the Dalla
s Morning News‘ Calvin Watkins. “I got this urn of her ashes I carry with me everywhere. I still feel like she’s there watching over me.”
The former star at Western Michigan opened up about how he had to cope with the loss of his mother, who used to chauffeur her son to his practices and games, at the same time as he was trying to prepare for one of the most important events of his life.
“It was definitely tough,” Kneeland said of his mother’s death. “I just managed it. She helped me a lot in my younger years getting into football. I always had the dream. I always told her, ‘I’m going to the NFL,’ and I made it. It’s a hard situation just knowing she got to see me potentially going to the NFL and going through (the process). She’s still with me.”
Kneeland coped with mother’s death ahead of Combine
As a high school player, despite setting records at Godwin Heights High School in Grand Rapids, Kneeland received just one Division-I scholarship offer and took it to attend Western Michigan. He found success with the team and almost considered transferring to a larger program – to Colorado in the Pac 12 – but ultimately, he stayed. He ended up recording a career-high the next season with 57 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss.
His performances for the Broncos, paired with his showing at the Senior Bowl and his interviews with more than a dozen teams, put him high on draft boards, but he still needed to post great numbers at the combine. Using his mother’s memory for motivation, Kneeland prepared as hard as he could.
“It was tough. I had a week to prepare and try to breathe and let all of it out as much as possible with the situation,” Kneeland shared. “But I had to lock in. I put myself in the best position and she helped me out a lot just leading up to the draft. I personal best-ed almost every day leading up to (the combine). I had a good combine, I didn’t PR there but I did hurt my glute right before I ran. It kinda threw me off a little but. She was right there with me.”
Cowboys rookie headed to training camp
Dealing with the loss of his mother, Kneeland leaned on his sister, as well as former coaches. His former coach Brandon Kimble from Godwin Heights discussed with the Dallas Morning News what the defender’s choice to wear his mother’s ashes means to him as he heads into his first NFL season.
“Now that he’s doing these things, it speaks volumes,” Kimble said. “It’s a great idea that he had and he went through with that. She’s still on the field with him, still going to be at games. He’s keeping it underneath his jersey. She’s still in the locker room with him in some form in his mind, her presence is still felt.”
Kneeland will be among the Cowboys’ seven other draft picks when they head to Oxnard, California later this month for training camp. And his mother’s memory goes with him.
