The Concussion & CTE Foundation has provided more details about Marshawn Kneeland, a former NFL player who died by suicide in November 2025.
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According to a Tuesday press release, researchers at the Boston University CTE Center conducted a post-mortem brain tissue analysis. They determined that Kneeland had stage 1 (of 4) chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
"Unfortunately, I was not surprised to find CTE in the brain of Mr. Kneeland, because we have found this progressive brain disease in nearly half of the athletes we've studied who have died before the age of 30," said Dr. Ann McKee, director of the Boston University CTE Center and chief of neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System.
"Thanks to the generosity of our brain donor families, we now better understand the earliest stages of CTE, and it is bringing us closer than ever to diagnosing it during life. My team and I are fully dedicated to finding effective treatments and a cure for CTE."
The Concussion & CTE Foundation added a note saying that "A post-mortem CTE diagnosis should not be considered the cause of a suicide and is not known to be a risk factor for suicide."
Kneeland, a former football player at Western Michigan, entered the NFL as a second-round pick in the 2024 Draft. He appeared in 18 games over two seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, and he started four.
Kneeland posted one sack, one pass defensed, 26 combined tackles, and four quarterback hits during his two seasons. He scored a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals by recovering a blocked punt in the end zone.
The Dallas Cowboys then announced in a statement in November 2025 that Kneeland had died at the age of 24. The team did not provide a cause of death at the time.
"It is with extreme sadness that the Dallas Cowboys share that Marshawn Kneeland tragically passed away this morning," the team said in a Nov. 6 statement. "Marshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization. Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family."
