Cowboys official reported Marshawn Kneeland text, asked for welfare check

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.

“He sent out some group texts that are concerning — probably mental health — but the group texts seemed to be saying goodbye — made some statement about not able to go to prison or to jail,” Johnson told Plano police dispatch, according to audio obtained by ESPN through a public records request.

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.

Johnson made the call about an hour after police started pursuing Kneeland’s car.

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.

Moments later, the video shows the car traveling southbound about one block from The Star — the Cowboys’ sprawling 91-acre headquarters — where the car then appears to crash into another vehicle at 10:40 p.m. Texas DPS have confirmed that Kneeland crashed into a pickup truck.

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.

Johnson also told dispatchers he was driving to Kneeland’s apartment in Plano and gave them a description of Kneeland’s car, according to the audio. He said he was trying to get information to contact Kneeland’s extended family.

“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?”

Officers found Kneeland’s body hours later, at 1:31 a.m. Thursday.

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.