Overview
- Boston University's CTE Center announced on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, that post-mortem analysis of Marshawn Kneeland’s brain found stage 1 chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
- Kneeland, a second‑round 2024 Cowboys draft pick who died by suicide in November 2025, had played tackle football from about age seven through college and the NFL.
- The family released a statement saying the diagnosis offers important context about struggles he may have faced and that they shared the results to raise awareness.
- Researchers and the Concussion & CTE Foundation emphasized that CTE can only be diagnosed after death and that a post‑mortem finding is not proof of causation for suicide.
- Experts warn the result underlines limits of current safety measures and renew calls to reduce repeated head impacts and to develop in‑life tests and treatments for CTE.