Ryan Flournoy made sure to take a moment to honor Marshawn Kneeland as the final seconds ticked down Monday night.
Flournoy walked behind the Dallas Cowboys bench at Allegiant Stadium and walked toward Kneeland’s white No. 94 jersey, which remained behind them throughout the game. their 33-16 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders. He quickly picked it up and raised it to the crowd, remembering his former teammate during their first match since his death earlier this month.
Kneeland died on November 6 from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 24 years old.
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Flournoy’s moment was one of many ways the Cowboys chose to honor Kneeland on Monday night.
They all wore special No. 94 stickers on the back of their helmets, which will remain there for the remainder of the season. They also wore special blue Kneeland T-shirts with his face on them during pregame warmups. The Raiders also held a pre-game tribute and wore special shirts with “988” written in large capital letters on the back – a reference to the suicide and crisis lifeline.
Cowboys defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa then found Kneeland’s jersey and took it off the field with him to the locker room after the victory. He lifted it high just before entering the tunnel.
The Cowboys are planning similar tributes next week when they host the Philadelphia Eagles, which will be their first home game since Kneeland’s death.
“There’s a lot of talk, and you just said you’re vulnerable,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt after the game. “It’s not necessarily about, ‘Oh, I’m weak.’ But it’s about being vulnerable. To show courage, you must show some sort of weakness or something that you must overcome.
“It was just a time for us to come together and understand that this game is bigger. It’s about life and the connections that we make, the brotherhoods, the friendships. We have to be there for each other, no matter what, on the field and off the field. And Marshawn was such a kind, so loving, gentle soul that it hurt. It hurt everyone.”
The Cowboys earned the victory Monday night thanks to four touchdown passes from Prescott. They now sit at 4-5-1 this season.
