Western Michigan University police were twice called to perform welfare checks on former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland while he played for the school, including by coaches who worried about him possessing a gun, according to records obtained by ESPN.

Kneeland, 24, died Nov. 6 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Frisco, Texas. The documents obtained by ESPN via an open-records request show that Kneeland was dealing with mental health issues as early as 2020.

One incident, in June 2023, came 10 months before Dallas picked him in the second round of the NFL draft. Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor and then-defensive coordinator Lou Esposito called police with a "concern that [Kneeland] recently separated from his girlfriend" and that they "wanted to make su

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