LAS VEGAS – While the Cowboys came away with a crucial 33-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night to pick up their fourth win of the season, it was bittersweet.
All evening, the team paid tribute to Marshawn Kneeland in their first game since his tragic passing just eleven days ago. The Cowboys wore a #94 decal on the back of their helmets, warmed up in Marshawn Kneeland t-shirts, hung Kneeland's jersey in a locker and placed it behind the defense's bench during the course of the game. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones was complimentary of how Brian Schottenheimer and the team handled the emotions postgame.
"I'm so proud of them," Jones said. "I'm proud of every last one of the staff and the coaches, Brian, his leadership throughout and the players. This obviously is tough, but in a way, a game, a competition like this with the Raiders is good therapy to come back and get in it. They know how much that Marshawn loved to compete, how much he loved the Cowboys, and to me it's just a way of saying 'this one's for you, Marshawn."
Schottenheimer shared the same pride in his players that Jones did, especially with how they handled the entire process.
"So proud of these guys and the way that they grieved, cried, laughed, but they wanted to honor him," Schottenheimer said. "And we're not done honoring him. He's part of our family forever. It's been tough, these past 11 days have been really tough. I'm proud of those guys, because the way they played today, they played with Marshawn's play style."
Following the game, Schottenheimer point towards his shirt, the commemorative Kneeland warmup shirt he had worn the whole night, and yelled "right here" to the crowd, motioning at Kneeland on his shirt to recognize the win was in his honor. When he got back to the locker room, he began his speech speaking about Kneeland.
"We started talking about Marshawn and how proud he would be," Schottenheimer said. "And with the way we played the game. Then I tried to compose myself, and I did, and we did our normal celebration because that's what we do."
Behind Schottenheimer in the postgame tunnel was defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who was emotional as he carried Kneeland's jersey back to the locker room with him. It was a moment that meant a lot.
"One of the things that we talked about was just taking the pain and turning it into a purpose," Odighizuwa said. "Honoring Marshawn by putting his style of film on tape and his style of play, which is he upheld our standard to a very high level in terms of passion, effort and energy."
"And so everything that that he did, he went 110%. So just knowing that if he could strap up today, how would he approach the game? And just taking that same approach."
That approach was evident for Cowboys QB Dak Prescott as well, who took pride in how his teammates performed through all the hardships they had faced over the last week and a half.
"It's been obviously a tough, hard 12 days," Prescott said. "Through the bye week, those first few days not being with the guys was harder than anything. But the last six, seven being together, working together, having conversations, healing, shining light on who Marshawn was. Then obviously coming out here tonight and playing with the style he played with, the intensity, the effort to finish, super proud of the guys."
"Whirlwind of a week, great one to cap off with a win right here, but this doesn't put a cap on it. We're going to continue to move forward, shining a light on Marshawn and carrying his legacy. We need to play like this every week moving forward, he'll always be with us."
Whether it be physically with his jersey on the sidelines or spiritually, it's evident that the Cowboys feel Kneeland's presence with them still. That was especially the case for DeMarvion Overshown, who knew his teammate was by his side as he returned for Dallas' defense, and always will be.
"I feel like it's just to refuel us," Overshown said of having Kneeland's jersey on the bench. "We told ourselves and have been talking about it for the last week, week and a half: We're playing for him… Our brother is on the sideline with us, whether it's physical or spiritually. He's there. Having his jersey there, that's the least we could do. We already know Marshawn is out there on the field with us."
