FRISCO, Texas — DeMarvion Overshown is doing his best to work through a challenging duality at the moment. While carrying a heavy heart filled to the brim with grief over the tragic loss of his teammate and good friend Marshawn Kneeland, the young Dallas Cowboys' linebacker is also just two days removed from returning to the field from a torn ACL that has kept him off of it for roughly an entire calendar year.
It's a journey that will end in explosive fashion — on Monday Night Football, in Las Vegas, to begin a gauntlet of must-win games against the strongest opponents the Cowboys will face in 2025, for a defense that is currently worst in the league statistically, and his return comes in conjunction with the debut of Quinnen Williams, Logan Wilson and Shavon Revel.
That is a lot to unpack mentally, but also emotionally, as he also navigates the loss of Kneeland.
"Look, it's actually crazy because over the course of this season, I figured out I have performance anxiety before games," Overshown said after Friday's practice. "But during that time, I actually told our psychiatrist I feel like that's my moment to power up. I feel like I'm a transformer. I just start shaking.
"I feel like that's the superhero coming out of me. So I know it's going to be a lot of mixed emotions just by being happy to be out there, but knowing that we're walking out with one less soldier, but also knowing that, look, you've waited 365 [days] for this moment again — be blessed. Don't take it lightly. Have fun while you're doing it."
That statement alone is evidence to the internal struggle that tugs Overshown from two opposite directions, and it's all about figuring out how to reconcile them by marrying it all in a way that both honors Kneeland while also powering Overshown up to do what needs to be done for the Cowboys.
But it sounds as if he's done exactly that heading into Vegas: woven the grief into his purpose.
"I don't take it lightly," he said. "I don't take it lightly at all. And, you know, this is one of the best ways we can honor him, by continuing his dream, continuing his legacy and what he wanted that to be — to play hard, 60 minutes straight, win ball games, and smile while doing it.
"Having that internal motivation, knowing my teammates, knowing this is a guy that we counted on big, big time. So we've got to do our job to fill those footsteps, to fill those cleats. And that's by running, hitting hard, scoring touchdowns, making plays like Marshawn Kneeland. I don't take that lightly. So that's exactly what I'm going to do Monday with the plays I get."
It is unknown is Overshown will be on a pitch count come Monday, given the Cowboys will likely want to ramp him up after being sidelined for a year, but he also made it clear there have been conversations the detail a plan for if the game is on the line and he's at his pitch count max — Overshown saying they understand he wants to be "on the field to make a play" in those situations.
Time will tell how that all plays out, but what's already known is just how much effort Overshown intends to put on film, as is always the case, but more than ever as the spirit of Kneeland helps to propel him forward.
