The girlfriend of late Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland broke her silence after the NFL star’s sudden death.
“I’m grieving hard right now,” Catalina Mancera told the Daily Mail on Monday, November 10. “It will be a long time before I’ll feel ready to talk at any length.”
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Mancera, 22, called the police the night before Kneeland’s death on the morning of Thursday, November 6. She expressed concern over Kneeland’s well-being, telling authorities her boyfriend had “a history of mental illness.”
After a brief police chase, Kneeland was found near his abandoned car on the Dallas Parkway, dead of an apparent suicide. He was 24 years old.
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“We’re still in the early stages of everything,” Mancera added. “We are working on the funeral arrangements. I don’t know where it’s going to be yet.”
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Kneeland was also survived by his father, Shawn, who is currently incarcerated in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and his three siblings: brothers, AJ and Shawn Jr., and sister, Yahmya.
The football star’s mother, Wendy, died in February 2024, just two months before he was selected in the second round by the Cowboys in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Mancera, a fashion designer, has been staying at the Plano, Texas, apartment where Kneeland lived prior to his death.
Nicole Kneeland-Woods, Marshawn’s cousin, told the Daily Mail that the NFL player started dating Mancera while he was a student-athlete at Western Michigan University.
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“Marshawn shared a very special relationship with Catalina, whom he had been with since his sophomore year of college,” she said. “They supported each other through many stages of life. Catalina is an important part of our family and she’s hurting deeply too.”
Despite what 911 dispatchers allege Catalina told them, Nicole said, “There were no previous signs or indications that Marshawn was dealing with mental issues.”
“Marshawn was a strong, loving person who cared deeply about his family and everyone around him,” Nicole added.
In addition to the death of his mother, Marshawn also lost his grandfather in 2023, which Nicole said was “was incredibly hard for him.”
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“But beyond that grief, Marshawn didn’t show signs of depression or mental health issues,” Nicole explained. “Our family is devastated and still trying to process something that feels unimaginable. We want people to remember Marshawn for his kindness, his sense of humor and his drive. He was loved deeply and that love will always be his legacy.”
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Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, broke his silence about Marshawn’s death on Tuesday, November 11.
“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,” Jones, 83, said on Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan. “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.”
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Jones added, “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.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
