Elizabeth MerrillCloseElizabeth MerrillESPN Senior WriterElizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.Follow on XAnthony OlivieriCloseAnthony OlivieriESPN Staff WriterAnthony Olivieri is a staff writer for ESPN. He has a degree in communications with a concentration in journalism from Marist College. He’s been with ESPN since 2012.Nov 12, 2025, 12:38 PM ET
Jerry Jones mourns death of Marshawn Kneeland (1:18)Jerry Jones reflects on the life of Marshawn Kneeland as the Cowboys are set to honor him for the rest of the season. (1:18)
On the night Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland died, the team’s director of security, Cable Johnson, called law enforcement to ask for a welfare check on Kneeland and to tell police Kneeland had sent a text saying he didn’t want to go to jail.
Kneeland died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound last week. Police found his body in the early morning last Thursday after he had evaded officers during a pursuit and fled on foot. Police have not said what prompted the pursuit.
According to a statement from Frisco police last week, officers responded to a call from the Texas Department of Public Safety at 10:39 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5, seeking help locating a car that had evaded police.
Highway surveillance video obtained by ESPN — via a public records request seeking footage related to Kneeland — shows a car that appears to be speeding northbound on the Dallas North Tollway, in some instances pursued by a police vehicle. The car then appears to exit the highway onto a parallel access road and turn left onto an overpass to make a U-turn south.
Kneeland fled the crash on foot, and it’s unclear when officers found his crashed car. Police began searching for him using drones and K-9 units. While officers searched, they received information that he had expressed “suicidal ideations,” police said last week.
Johnson placed the call at 11:40 p.m. on Nov. 5, according to a log of the exchange, also obtained by ESPN through a public records request. He told dispatchers that Kneeland sent the text messages within the last 20 minutes.
In the approximately five-and-a-half minute call, Johnson told dispatchers that Kneeland was “off work” and that he wasn’t sure whether Kneeland was even in the Dallas area at the time. The Cowboys were on their bye week when Kneeland died.
“The last context of the text that he sent said something to the fact that I can’t go to prison or jail,” Johnson told dispatchers. “I’m sure you can do like a regional check to see if any other agency is dealing with him right now?”
Tad Carper, the Cowboys’ senior vice president of communications, confirmed Johnson’s wellness check call but had no further comment. Johnson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Jerry Jones mourns death of Marshawn Kneeland (1:18)Jerry Jones reflects on the life of Marshawn Kneeland as the Cowboys are set to honor him for the rest of the season. (1:18)
Jerry Jones reflects on the life of Marshawn Kneeland as the Cowboys are set to honor him for the rest of the season. (1:18)
CloseElizabeth MerrillESPN Senior WriterElizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.Follow on X
CloseAnthony OlivieriESPN Staff WriterAnthony Olivieri is a staff writer for ESPN. He has a degree in communications with a concentration in journalism from Marist College. He’s been with ESPN since 2012.
Officers found Kneeland’s body hours later, at 1:31 a.m. Thursday.