{"id":362735,"date":"2026-07-08T02:50:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=362735"},"modified":"2026-07-08T02:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:20:30","slug":"marshawn-kneeland-had-stage-1-cte-when-he-died-by-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/marshawn-kneeland-had-stage-1-cte-when-he-died-by-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshawn Kneeland Had Stage 1 CTE When He Died By Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland<\/strong> had stage 1 CTE when he died by suicide in November 2025, in response to a post-mortem brain tissue evaluation performed by the Concussion & CTE Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I used to be not surprised to seek out CTE within the brain of Mr. Kneeland, because we now have found this progressive brain disease in nearly half of the athletes we\u2019ve studied who’ve died before the age of 30,\u201d Dr. Ann McKee<\/strong>, director of the Boston University CTE Center, said in a release on Tuesday, July 7.<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cDue to the generosity of our brain donor families, we now higher understand the earliest stages of CTE, and it’s bringing us closer than ever to diagnosing it during life. My team and I are fully dedicated to finding effective treatments and a cure for CTE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kneeland died at age 24 on November 6, 2025, following a pursuit with state troopers who had tried to drag him over for a traffic violation. Authorities initially lost Kneeland\u2019s automobile, before finding it crashed and abandoned. He was later discovered near the realm dead of an apparent suicide.<\/p>\n

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Related: <\/span>Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland Sent Goodbye Texts to Family Before Death: Report<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tDispatch audio painted a tragic picture of the ultimate moments of Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland\u2019s life. Kneeland sent a gaggle text to his family \u201csaying goodbye,\u201d in response to audio obtained by TMZ Sports on Thursday, November 6.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re talking to his girlfriend,\u201d a 911 dispatcher said. \u201cShe\u2019s attempting to call his agent. We\u2019re [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kneeland began playing tackle football at age 7, eventually enrolling at Western Michigan University, where he played 4 seasons. The Cowboys drafted him within the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

CTE can only be diagnosed by observing the brain tissue of a patient who has died. Stage 1 is the bottom level on a scale of 1 to 4.<\/p>\n

Even with Kneeland playing within the NFL at the peak of its modern safety precautions, Concussion & CTE Foundation CEO Chris Nowinski<\/strong> said his death is a reminder that the present protocol is just not enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have now no reason to consider the present generation is at a lower risk of CTE than previous generations,\u201d he said. \u201cConcussion protocols don’t prevent CTE, because CTE is brought on by repeated head impacts, not only concussions. If we would like to cut back CTE risk, we must implement CTE prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number and strength of head impacts at every level of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

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