Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he was 'devastated' upon learning the news of Marshawn Kneeland's tragic death on Thursday.
Kneeland was found dead by police in the early hours of Thursday morning last week in an apparent suicide. He was 24-years-old, playing in his second year in the NFL.
"I think we all have unfettered feelings about the people we love, people we work with, and this is just a time when you acknowledge that there's no answers," said Jones on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
"It makes you want to live life to the fullest. It makes you want to look for the very best in what we have for each other. And in some way make sense out of these times in terms of what they can mean from helping those that are here on Earth right now.
"All of those things are very natural, come to mind, but his death is such a national awareness thing that it takes on some of that light when we think about how we go forward."
The Cowboys returned from their bye week on Monday and plan to honour Kneeland with helmet decals for the rest of the season. Dallas players will also wear t-shirts honouring Kneeland ahead of their games against Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11 and against Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12.
The NFL sent a memo to all teams on Friday requesting a moment of silence ahead of their Week 10 games in tribute to Kneeland, as well as a message encouraging those struggling to seek support.
Just days before his passing Kneeland had scored his first NFL touchdown when he pounced on a loose ball in the end zone following a blocked punt during the Cowboys' defeat to the Arizona Cardinals.
He was a second-round pick out of Western Michigan at the 2024 NFL Draft.
"From the standpoint of the team and going back to work, there's no doubt in my mind they will do so in memory of what he's all about," Jones said. "He was very unique in his zest for life, and he was very unique for his passion for the game.
"Of course, the saddest thing for someone like me is the fact that he's only 24 years old. You think about all of the time that we're going to miss him and he's going to be missed by the people around him. He was just getting started."
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