“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Marshawn,” former Western Michigan coach Tim Lester, now the offensive coordinator at Iowa, said in a statement. “He was a great teammate and a joy to coach. His smile, work ethic, and heart touched so many.”
The latter part of Lester’s statement was something shared by many on Thursday. If Kneeland’s on-field trademark was his work ethic, then his off-field one was his smile. It was infectious. It was energetic.
“The first thing you think of when we first got him in the ‘24 draft, at rookie minicamp, he was immediately just a fantastic energy,” said former Cowboys special teams coach John Fassel, who spent last year with Kneeland. “You could tell there was great leadership qualities. And these aren’t things you just say after someone passes. These are things that are real and I would say about him right now if he just had a great game and was still around. He was magnetic with his personality, where he was hard-working and tough, and it was just a fantastic combination of all the right things. Which makes this honestly even more tragic, just because of the person that he was.”
“I watched him fight his way from a hopeful kid at Western Michigan with a dream to being a respected professional for the Dallas Cowboys. Marshawn poured his heart into every snap, every practice, and every moment on the field,” his agent, Jonathan Perzley, wrote. “To lose someone with his talent, spirit, and goodness is a pain I can hardly put into words.”