Marshawn Kneeland’s mom, Wendy, never got to see her son play in an NFL game, but the late Dallas Cowboys defensive end made sure she was with him as he started his professional journey.

Kneeland, who died on Thursday, November 6, at age 24, was known for wearing a chain around his neck that held a small urn containing some of Wendy’s ashes.

Wendy died of an undisclosed illness on February 18, 2024, as Kneeland was preparing for the NFL scouting combine. The second-round pick out of Western Michigan credited his mom for supporting him and his dream of making the NFL.

“It was tough, it still is, but I know at the end of the day the thing that gets me through it is she spent all her life trying to get me to go here and supported me as much as she could to get me to the NFL,” Kneeland told

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