Marshawn Kneeland Found Dead After Texas Police Pursuit

At about 10:33 p.m. on November 5, 2025, Texas state troopers tried to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation on the Dallas North Tollway. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the driver refused to stop. Troopers pursued the car, then lost sight of it and ended the chase. Minutes later, authorities found it crashed and abandoned on southbound Dallas Parkway near Warren Parkway. The driver was later identified as Marshawn Kneeland, the Dallas Cowboys’ 24-year-old defensive end.

The car had struck another vehicle. In police footage described by The Independent, a woman whose truck was hit told a trooper she had watched the car approach in her rearview mirror. “I was like Oh my God he’s not stopping and then he just plowed into me,” she said. Officers at the crash site initially did not know the other driver was Kneeland.

Police said Kneeland had fled on foot. State troopers and Frisco officers searched the surrounding area, with a DPS aircraft also assisting. Footage showed officers searching a nearby wooded area and drainage tunnels, deploying a drone and warning that a police dog would be sent into one tunnel. A passing driver told a trooper he had seen someone running through a field, but officers did not find Kneeland there.

During the search, Frisco police said, officers received information that Kneeland had “expressed suicidal ideations.” Plano police also responded that night to a welfare concern at an address associated with him. They did not make contact with anyone at the residence.

At 1:31 a.m. on November 6, the search ended when officers found Kneeland dead. Frisco police described his injury as what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said they were investigating a possible suicide; the official cause and manner of death remained for the Collin County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine.

Kneeland was in his second season with Dallas, which had selected him in the second round of the 2024 draft out of Western Michigan. Just days before his death, he had scored a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals, recovering a blocked punt in the end zone. The Cowboys announced his death on November 6 and called him “a beloved teammate and member of our organization,” offering condolences to his girlfriend, Catalina, and his family.

His agent, Jonathan Perzley, asked for “privacy and compassion” for those close to Kneeland. “Marshawn poured his heart into every snap, every practice, and every moment on the field,” he said.

Lou Esposito, who had coached Kneeland at Western Michigan and was then Michigan’s defensive line coach, said they had planned to see each other that weekend. They had recently spoken about Kneeland’s touchdown. “My heart aches as that will be the last conversation that we have together,” Esposito said. “He was family to us and we have so many fond memories of our times together.”