Tears flowed as Coach Schottenheimer honored fallen teammate Marshawn Kneeland in an emotional locker room speech after a hard-fought victory.
In Brian Schottenheimer’s first year as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he’s already become known for delivering electric postgame locker room speeches. The motivation, the passion, and the celebrations as he spotlights standout players—followed by the team erupting with a unified “yeahhh”—have quickly become a defining part of his coaching style.
But Monday night’s win over the Raiders in Las Vegas was different. This victory carried a heavier meaning. It was the team’s first game—and first win—since the tragic passing of their teammate, Marshawn Kneeland.
As Coach Schottenheimer walked into the locker room, his eyes filled with tears, the emotion was unmistakable.
“Hey, listen up. Before we do all the celebration stuff … I’m so proud of you guys,” Schottenheimer began. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks. We made him proud. You guys made him [expletive] proud. Unbelievable.”
He paused, quickly gathering himself before shifting back into his usual postgame energy.
“All right, here we go. I’m good—I’m back. Here we go.”
From there, he launched straight into his signature player shoutouts, celebrating key performances from the night.
And “we made him proud” couldn’t be more true. The Cowboys delivered a complete team performance in their win over the Raiders, firing on all cylinders in all three phases. A defense that had faced heavy criticism stepped up with one of its best outings of the season—holding Las Vegas to just 16 points and limiting rookie running back Ashton Jeanty to only seven rushing yards.
Although the Cowboys have struggled for much of the year, this was a remarkable showing—overcoming the worst kind of adversity and finding a way to win in their first game back.
This performance showed that the team has fight, resilience, and a shared determination to play for their fallen brother.
Schottenheimer appears to be leading this group in a way that everyone can buy into, transforming the culture in Dallas. He’s also gotten reinforcements, with key defensive players returning from injury—linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and rookie cornerback Shavon Revel Jr.—as well as major additions at the trade deadline in defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson.
With this combination, the Cowboys have a legitimate chance to become a sneaky playoff contender and turn some heads down the stretch. But no matter how the season ends, the strength, unity, and perseverance this team has shown is something the entire organization—and Marshawn Kneeland—can be proud of.