Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has revealed that the girlfriend of the late Marshawn Kneeland is pregnant with the couple's first child. The announcement came a week after the 24-year-old defensive lineman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a police pursuit.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Kneeland's death on November 6, Schottenheimer said that Catalina Mancera is carrying Kneeland's child. 'We're going to honour Marshawn and his family in a number of different ways. The organisation has been amazing. We've started the Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund, where we can all give and support Catalina. She's pregnant, and so we want to make sure she's taken care of and the baby is taken care of for the rest of their lives,' Schottenheimer said.
The coach added that he and his players are still grieving Kneeland, sharing moments of laughter and tears as they cope with his loss. '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,' he said.
The Cowboys will honour Kneeland for the remainder of the season by wearing memorial decals on their helmets. They will also sport special T-shirts for at least the next couple of games. Their upcoming schedule includes a Monday night game at the Las Vegas Raiders, followed by a home game on November 22 against the Philadelphia Eagles, during which there will be a pregame moment of silence and a video tribute.
Kneeland crashed his car around 10:33 p.m. on November 6 after evading a traffic stop in Frisco. He then ran from the scene and was found dead by 1:31 a.m. from a self-inflicted gunshot. A second-round pick by the Cowboys in 2024, he played 18 NFL games with 26 tackles and one sack. He scored his first NFL touchdown the week before his death.
