Seeing Dawson Knox score the game-winning touchdown in a huge victory was an emotional moment for his Buffalo Bills teammates on Sunday.
The Bills tight end's brother, Luke, a 22-year-old football player at Florida International University, died suddenly in August. His cause of death has not been announced and university officials have said foul play was not suspected.
Dawson Knox missed a few days of training camp and a pre-season game to be with his family before returning to the team. On Sunday, Knox hauled in a 14-yard laser from Josh Allen with just over a minute left to give the visiting Bills a dramatic 24-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Mental health is real. He’s balancing things, he had some things happen early in the year … he could have taken some time away from football and really spent (time) with his family. He decided to continue to play, continue to be around the people that love him," Bills receiver Stefon Diggs said.
"To see him just triumph and a moment to (rejoice), you’re just like ‘damn, a guy like that battling hard each and every day regardless of what’s going on his life.’ ... You try to just love him up and keep him in that good space. To see him have the game-winning touchdown, it was like ‘OK, Knox, good s---.”
Bills coach Sean McDermott gave Knox the first game ball in the locker room after the game.
“You watch guys go through the journey of life off the field. He’s been through it and he’s stuck with it, stuck with it, been resilient," McDermott said. "Then he’s been banged up a little bit. You just knew his time was coming. You just knew he was going to make a big play and he did. My hat goes off to him."
Allen also paid tribute to Knox in his post-game interview with CBS.
“He’s been battling through some stuff this year. I’m so proud of how resilient he is," Allen said. "I love the guy. He’s one of the most loved guys in our locker room. He’s got a smile on his face 24/7. He deserves that."
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