By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday that his heart and the hearts of his players are still heavy after the death of defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, and that they continue to share, laugh and cry after the loss of their teammate last week.
“We don’t move on, but we do move forward,” Schottenheimer said in his first media availability since Kneeland’s death during their bye week.
“There’s no playbook, there’s really not. So that’s where the late nights come in, but the biggest thing for me is being strong for our football team,” their first-year head coach said a day before the Cowboys resume practice ahead of their next game. “We’ve got an incredible locker room, that’s where the culture of what we’re trying to build. We are bonded more than any of us ever could have thought.”
Police in Frisco said Kneeland was found dead early last Thursday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after leading officers on a chase when he didn’t pull over for a traffic stop. Authorities lost sight of Kneeland’s vehicle, and the 24-year-old was found dead about three hours after fleeing the scene of an accident on foot, police said.
Players were off Wednesday, but the team had been together the previous two days for meetings and breakout sessions with grief specialists who talked to players. There was a private memorial candlelight vigil at the team’s headquarters Tuesday night, when among those sharing were Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Schottenheimer, along with Kneeland’s girlfriend, his agent and his high school coach.
Schottenheimer said Wednesday that a memorial fund had been started to support Kneeland’s pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child “to make sure she’s taken care of and the baby’s taken care of for the rest of their lives.”
The Cowboys will wear decals on their helmets the rest of the season in memory of Kneeland, and have special T-shirts at least for the next couple of games. They play Monday night at the Las Vegas Raiders, then have their next home game against Philadelphia on Nov. 23, when there will be a pregame moment of silence and a video tribute to Kneeland.
While coaches worked on game plans Wednesday, which Schottenheimer called a positive distraction, the players will be back on the practice field Thursday.
“We have to work back to a regular routine. That’s what we’re going to do. We will move forward,” Schottenheimer said. “The one benefit of playing on Monday night is we’ve been given a little more time to grieve. That grieving process is not over. There’s going to be things that affect us differently throughout the next couple weeks, but we understand our best way to honor Marshawn on the field is how we play. That’s something we get to control, and I think the guys are excited about that.”
Cowboys defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, in a story posted on the team’s website, described the team’s first time back together Monday as “extremely impactful, extremely emotional.”
Thomas and quarterback Dak Prescott, both of whom had siblings who died by suicide and have foundations supporting suicide awareness and prevention, had addressed the team during a virtual team meeting last Thursday in the hours after Kneeland’s death. Thomas’ sister, Ella, was the same age as Kneeland.
Schottenheimer’s availability came a week after the team last practiced, which occurred two days after Kneeland scored a touchdown when recovering a blocked punt in a Monday night loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The coach recalled seeing Kneeland’s excitement after that big play.
Asked if there was something that was missed or could have been done to prevent Kneeland’s death, Schottenheimer said those are natural questions.
“You try not to think about them, but when you’re having very open and authentic conversations with these guys, the pain is real, the questions are real,” he said. “The more you talk to the experts, the people that deal with this all the time, they say a lot of times you’re never going to know. But I’d be lying if I said to you I don’t wake up in the middle of the night, or when I’m on the phone talking to one of those guys, have those thoughts. You do.”
In his first public comments about Kneeland’s death, Jones said on his weekly radio show Tuesday that everyone is sharing the sorrow.
“All are having to share the different ways or different things that come through your mind,” Jones said. “The very definition of team is we love each other, we rely on each other. Everybody expects that, boy, it’s a rough game, it takes some real mental toughness to play the game, but in fact there’s a lot of love for each other there that is shared in rather unique ways, and you get to know each other pretty good.”
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