Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was diagnosed with Stage 1 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) by Boston University researchers, the Concussion & CTE Foundation announced Tuesday. Kneeland was just 24 years old when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during the 2025 NFL season.
🚨 Marshawn Kneeland, Cowboys DE who died by suicide, has been diagnosed with CTE. https://t.co/uO9a7ELmVG pic.twitter.com/IxTDa7Rjm2
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 7, 2026
Boston University researchers diagnosed former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who died in November 2025 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with Stage 1 CTE.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 7, 2026
Kneeland’s family released a statement on the diagnosis.
Details: https://t.co/4Hlm3S5Jqe
Kneeland's family released a statement following the diagnosis, saying,
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. We continue to remember Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life.
Kneeland was only in his second season in the NFL, playing just 18 games with the Cowboys before his death.
On the night of November 5, 2025, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pursued Kneeland after he sped through an intersection at more than 145 mph. The trooper lost sight of the car, which was later found crashed with a holster left behind. Frisco police found Kneeland's body in the early morning of November 6, 2025, after he had texted a group chat saying "Goodbye." Police said they were aware that Kneeland had previously expressed suicidal thoughts.
His diagnosis reignites a conversation about the dangers of traumatic head injuries suffered by professional football players. According to The Athletic, CTE is a four-stage traumatic brain disease linked to repeated head traumas sustained typically by contact-sport athletes. It can only be diagnosed after death through a microscopic examination of brain tissue. Boston University's CTE Center diagnosed 345 out of the 376 tested former NFL athletes with CTE, showing an alarming number of players are affected.
Former WWE professional wrestler and co-founder and CEO of the Concussion & CTE Foundation Chris Nowinski said that adapting concussion protocols and advanced headgear do not prevent CTE because it is "caused by repeated head impacts, not just concussions." "If we want to reduce CTE risk, we must implement CTE prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number and strength of head impacts at every level of the game," Nowinski said.
CTE was first identified in boxers by pathologist Dr. Harrison Martland in 1928 as "punch drunk syndrome," before getting the name "chronic traumatic encephalopathy" in 1949. Mike Webster was the first NFL player with a confirmed case of CTE, diagnosed in 2005 by neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. Webster was a center for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs before passing away in 2002 at just 50 years old.
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