Cowboys honor Marshawn Kneeland repeatedly in dominant win over Raiders, the first Dallas game after his death

Ryan Flournoy made sure to take a moment to honor Marshawn Kneeland as the final seconds ticked off the clock on Monday night.

Flournoy walked behind the Dallas Cowboys’ bench at Allegiant Stadium and made his way for Kneeland’s white No. 94 jersey, which hung behind them throughout their 33-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. He quickly picked it up and raised it toward the crowd, remembering his former teammate in their first game since his death earlier this month.

Kneeland died on Nov. 6 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 24.

Flournoy’s moment was one of several ways that the Cowboys opted to honor Kneeland on Monday night.

They all had special No. 94 decals on the back of their helmets, which will remain there for the rest of the season. They wore special blue Kneeland T-shirts with his face on them during pregame warmups, too. The Raiders also held a pregame tribute, and wore special shirts with “988” written in big block letters on the back of them — a reference to the suicide and crisis lifeline.

Cowboys defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa later found Kneeland’s jersey and carried it off the field with him to the locker room after the win. He raised it up high right before he hit the tunnel.

The Cowboys are planning similar tributes next week when they host the Philadelphia Eagles, which will be their first home game since Kneeland’s death.

“It’s a lot of conversations, and you just said, it, about being vulnerable,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt after the game. “It’s not necessarily about, ‘Oh I’m weak.’ But it’s about being vulnerable. To show courage, you have to show some kind of weakness, or something that you need to overcome.

“It was just a time for us to gather together and understand that this game, it’s bigger. It’s about life and these connections that we’re making, the brotherhoods, the friendships. We’ve got to be there for each other, regardless, on the field, off the field. And Marshawn was such a kind, loving, sweet soul, that it hurt. It hurt everybody.”

The Cowboys rolled to the win on Monday night behind four touchdown passes from Prescott. They now sit at 4-5-1 on the season.

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