Micah Parsons Opens Up About Death of Former Teammate Marshawn Kneeland

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers star Micah Parsons offered to do anything possible to help the family of his former Dallas Cowboys teammate, Marshawn Kneeland, who committed suicide early Thursday morning.

“I just hope that he finds his peace and his family his peace in the situation,” Parsons said after practice on Friday.

The 24-year-old Kneeland was a second-round pick by the Cowboys in 2024, so they spent last season together. Parsons said a former teammate told him the news around 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

His first reaction was disbelief.

“I would say I was extremely shocked,” he said. “I was extremely hurt by the news. Anyone I know, I don’t want to see anyone go this soon at this age. I don’t want anyone to go but that’s kind of the reality.

“I think the first key is accepting. I kind of accept it, but now I just got to pray he finds his peace and what he was looking for; how he felt in that moment, you just really don’t know. For me, I have kids. How do I make sure my kids don’t end up in that similar situation.”

Parsons said his kids and family are in Green Bay, which made it easier to handle the grieving.

“It kind of really made it easy when you’re surrounded by loved ones,” Parsons said. “But I would say I’m blessed. We should all just use this time to stay prayed up. Keep praying – praying for your loved ones, praying that people find peace.

“And then also just continue to reach out to our loved ones. It made me reach out to some friends I have back home, former teammates about how we took for granted the time we have together. Life’s just so short, so we should really just start appreciating a little bit more and just loving people right and being purposeful with our intent and how we treat people and how we accept people.”

Parsons said suicide, a too-common problem among young men, should lead to “hard” conversations.

“This is something you should talk to professionals – seek professional help,” he said. “We’ll be fools to act like what we do isn’t enough pressure as it is. We live in a pressure job where you’re expected to deliver and you’re expected to play a certain way, and when you don’t, it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, man, it’s so sad.’

The Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks observe a moment of silence to honor the memory of Marshawn Kneeland. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

“But a lot of people are hard on people. ‘You suck. You stink. We hope you die.’ There’s a lot of harsh words and harsh things that get said about people. As athletes, most of us see it, but we choose to wait until somebody passes to realize what we say and what we do, how it can affect people. We don’t all understand what happened to 9-4 in the instance, but mental health is important about being there for each other, whether we’re going through hard times or whatever it may be.”

Football is played by some of the toughest men on earth. But they are humans, first and foremost. While being vulnerable and reaching out for help hasn’t always been culturally accepted for men, there’s no shame in reaching out for help or leaning on your faith during hard times, Parsons said.

“There’s one person in this world you can always count on and that’s God,” he said. “That’s the person you got to almost lean on. People tell us men we can’t be soft. You spend your whole life proving yourself to others; that’s for other people to know your worth.

“I think as men, we’re taught not to be as vulnerable. You’re right, but there’s one person I’m always vulnerable with. That’s God. He knows all the truth and what goes on in my mind and what goes on in this world. You just got to find the right balance.”

Green Bay Packers running back Emanuel Wilson (23) runs against Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Parsons knows part of the balance is grieving but also preparing to do his job. After a disappointing loss to Carolina, this will be a huge game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the defending Super Bowl champions.

The expectation is that Parsons will put his grief behind him, not just for the three-and-a-half hours of Monday’s game but for the weeklong preparation for the primetime showdown.

“It’s challenging,” he said of getting back to football. “Because, obviously, this is football-first, everything-else-later job. That’s what the fans expect you to be ready. Your coaches expect you to be ready. Even your teammates expect you to be ready. But in reality, to say that we’re emotionless and we don’t have feelings (and) you got to put things to the side all the time, it’s just not realistic.

“I have to find a way to embrace my emotions, embrace everything I’m feeling for his family (and) my former teammates. I got former teammates that are devastated. They can’t comprehend it.

“Losing a teammate is like a brother. People don’t realize how much we’re actually together – like time spent. That’s the challenge. The NFL is like a brotherhood. It doesn’t matter who it is. If you’re breaking sweat, breaking blood with someone whether it’s opposite team or same team, it’s a brotherhood. Trying to put that aside is challenging, but we got to find a way because there’s an expectation come Monday night.”

Then Parsons got to the real talk, which might seem insensitive if not part of their world.

What will Parsons’ emotions be like at kickoff?

“If I know ‘9-4,’ he’s going to want me to kill him. He’s going to want me to kill him because that’s how he played. He always played with the intent and passion and played the right way. Every time I seen him step on the field, he gave it his all. Even when he was hurt, even when he was dealing with things off the field, he never let it show on the field, so I have to do the same thing.”

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