Marshawn Kneeland’s loved ones are sharing heartbreaking new details about the late Dallas Cowboys player’s death.
The former NFL star, who died at age 24 in November, was confirmed on Tuesday, July 7 to have died by suicide. Eight months after his passing on Nov. 5, researchers at the Boston University CTE Center said Kneeland had been diagnosed with stage 1 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, following a post-mortem brain tissue analysis.
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“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,” Dr. Ann McKee, director of the Boston University CTE Center and chief of neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System, said in a press release.
“Mr. Kneeland played in the modern era of concussion protocols and better helmets, and yet he still developed CTE,” Dr. Chris Nowinski, Concussion & CTE Foundation CEO, added.
Still, the foundation stressed that CTE should not be viewed as the cause of his death. “Suicide is complex and multifactorial. 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’s family, including his girlfriend Catalina Mancera, who gave birth to their first child last month, said in a statement to the Concussion & CTE Foundation that they hope sharing his diagnosis will help “raise awareness” of the disease.
“While this diagnosis does not change the tragedy of his passing, it provides important context about some of the struggles he may have been facing,” his family said. “We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high contact sport athletes might be struggling with. Raising awareness is important to us. We continue to remember Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life. One Love.”