Prescott was at his alma mater, Haughton High School in Louisiana, for the dedication of Dak Prescott Field. The Bucs had a game against St. Louis Catholic the following night — a game they’d ultimately win.
The relationships built in a locker room are special, he said as he pointed to several of his Haughton teammates who were in attendance. His mind then drifted to a player he’s shared a locker room with the past two seasons: Marshawn Kneeland.
“Hug your teammates,” he told the Haughton Bucs, “and tell your teammates you love them. If you’re going through something, don’t be afraid to share it. You and your teammates, whatever you’re going through, you can get through.”
Thursday will mark a week since Kneeland died by suicide. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, speaking for the first time publicly since Kneeland’s death, said he received a phone call that alerted him of reason to be concerned about the Cowboys defensive end. Plano police even did a welfare check on Kneeland before midnight Wednesday. Soon after, at 1:31 a.m. on Thursday, Frisco police found Kneeland dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Schottenheimer spoke somberly on Wednesday as he recounted the week that’s been. He said they won’t move on after the loss of Kneeland — a teammate who had a smile that could drop them to their knees, Schottenheimer said — but they will move forward, together.
“When one guy is hurting, someone else has to pick them up. If the head coach is hurting, someone’s got to pick me up,” he said. “And I’m hurting. I’m hurting. And these guys have picked me up, and I’ve picked them up. That’s what we’re going to continue to do because we love one another.”
Grieving together didn’t happen initially. The Cowboys were on a bye week this past week. Their last meetings had concluded well before the news of Kneeland’s passing started to spread. Schottenheimer, like a doctor making rounds virtually, said he started making as many calls as he could to players and other staff members as they all — together, but separated — tried to make sense of what happened. They had a video call on Thursday that included Dr. Heather Twedell, the team’s mental health and wellness consultant. Still, there was physical distance.
“[But] you’re not together,” Schottenheimer said. “We’re always going to be stronger together. We are stronger together.”