💥 “I CAN’T STOP CRYING… YOU CALLED ME 47 MINUTES BEFORE YOU PULLED THE TRIGGER!” – Noah Lyles COLLAPSES LIVE on Air, Reveals Marshawn Kneeland’s Heart-Wrenching Final Call & Leaked Last Text That Has America SOBBING Uncontrollably – NFL Announces No. 94 Will Fly at Half-Staff FOREVER
November 11, 2025 – 9:42 a.m. EST. The Today Show studio in New York was supposed to be a light segment about holiday training plans. Then Noah Lyles broke. The Olympic 100m champion, still wearing the same black hoodie he had on when he won gold in Paris, stared into the camera, eyes already red, and said the words no one was ready for: “I can’t do this interview right now… I’m sorry… Marshawn called me 47 minutes before he… before he pulled the trigger.”
The feed cut to commercial for eight full minutes – the longest unplanned break in NBC morning history. When it returned, Lyles was sobbing uncontrollably, barely able to speak.
“He said, ‘Noah, I’m tired, bro… I’m so tired. I don’t wanna be a burden anymore.’ I thought he was talking about the ankle injury. I told him, ‘Man, rest up, we’ll run together in the off-season, you’ll be back.’ He laughed… that little laugh he always did… and said, ‘Yeah… maybe in another life.’ I didn’t hear it. I didn’t hear the goodbye.” Then came the text message that has now been seen by 78 million people and counting. Screenshot leaked by a close friend who received it from Lyles himself:
Marshawn Kneeland → Noah Lyles Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 11:23 PM “Thanks for believing I was the fastest man on the field, big bro. Tell the world I tried. I’m going home now. Love you, 6.30.” (6.30 was Kneeland’s 40-yard dash time at the Combine – the number Lyles always teased him about, saying “You’re fast… for a big man.”) Lyles read it aloud on air, word by word, collapsing into Hoda Kotb’s arms as the studio crew openly wept.
“He called me ‘big bro’ even though he was bigger than me in every way,” Lyles choked out. “He was 24. Twenty-four.” Marshawn Kneeland, Dallas Cowboys rookie defensive end, died by suicide on November 6 after leading police on a short chase in his pickup truck. He stopped on a quiet road outside Irving, Texas, sent that final text to Lyles and three others, then ended his life with a single gunshot. His first career touchdown – a blocked punt return against the Cardinals just three days earlier – was still being replayed on every highlight reel.
The two had met in 2023 at a Nike camp in Oregon. Lyles, recovering from depression himself after the Tokyo Olympics, recognized the same darkness in Kneeland’s eyes. They stayed in touch daily – voice notes, memes, late-night calls about faith, pressure, and what it feels like when the world expects you to be unbreakable.
Lyles revealed they had planned to train together this offseason in Arizona. Kneeland was going to work on his first-step explosion with the fastest man alive. “He kept saying, ‘If I can just get half your start, nobody’s blocking me next year,’” Lyles recalled, forcing a shattered smile.
The NFL’s response was immediate and historic. Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that number 94 will be flown at half-staff at every stadium for the remainder of the season – and permanently at AT&T Stadium. Jerry Jones, voice cracking, said: “That boy was family. Forever family.”
Cowboys players wore “MK 94” decals on their helmets in practice today. Micah Parsons posted a black screen with the words: “I got you for life, rook.” And across America, living rooms fell silent as fathers hugged their sons a little tighter, mothers checked on their boys one more time, and an entire nation realized that even the strongest-looking warriors sometimes fight battles no one sees.
Noah Lyles ended the interview with one sentence that has already been shared 42 million times: “Marshawn, I’m running every race for you now. Wait for me at the finish line, brother. I’ll be there.”
Somewhere, a 24-year-old soul who felt too heavy for this world is finally running free. And tonight, the fastest man alive is trying to catch up to him one tear at a time.
