Josh Allen has criticized the sportscaster who broke the news of Ed Oliver’s son’s drowning before the… Buffalo Bills player could share the news himself.
The NFL was rocked by the tragic news Saturday morning, following Bills GM Brandon Beane has released a statement on the ‘devastating’ loss of Oliver’s two-year-old son, who drowned in a Houston swimming pool on June 28.
However, Beane’s statement was not the first public revelation of the tragedy, after sports reporter Tony Farmer first broke the news to his 24,000 X followers on social media on Friday evening.
Speaking to the media after the Bills’ win over the Cleveland Browns On Saturday, superstar QB Allen took the time to share his thoughts on the situation – and specifically the unsavory way it came out.
“First of all, I want to thank those who knew about it and gave him his moment and his time,” Allen said. ‘It’s very sad how it came out. It makes me very sad and angry at the same time.
‘It is obviously very unfortunate what happened and as a teammate of his, as someone in this dressing room, we can only love him. There is nothing you can say to make the situation better other than being there in whatever way you can.”
Josh Allen addressed the podcaster who broke the news about the death of Ed Oliver’s two-year-old son
The NFL is in mourning after Bills star Oliver’s son drowned in a swimming pool on June 28
Oliver is pictured with his two-year-old son Ed Jr, who drowned in Houston in late June
He later added: ‘It’s a real shame how it came about. I appreciate (those) who knew and didn’t want to bring it up. It’s no one’s place to really let that out except him and his family when the time is right, but we’re going for it now and being there for him as teammates.”
Allen himself is a new father, having recently welcomed his first daughter, Harper, with his actress wife Hailee Steinfeld in April.
Farmer, the creator and host of a podcast called “Last Men Standing,” had posted Friday evening: “The Bills say Ed Oliver is injured and that’s why he hasn’t practiced. I just found out that he was involved in a terrible personal tragedy at his estate in Texas in June, I wrote a whole article about X and it was deleted within minutes.”
He was met with hundreds of responses from Bills fans asking him to remove the post, and that was compounded Saturday night by Allen’s comments to the media.
One wrote: “Dude, not everything has to be news,” while another added: “You have zero integrity. This man is suffering and was not ready to come forward.”
In the wake of the Bills’ statement, TMZ reported this on Saturday that first responders rushed to Oliver’s home on June 28, where they were told the boy’s parents had found him unconscious in the pool. The child was taken to hospital by ambulance but was later pronounced dead.
The defensive tackle has been with Buffalo since being taken ninth overall in the 2019 NFL draft
Allen and his glamorous wife Hailee Steinfeld welcomed their first baby this season
At the time, but without providing many details, including names or ages, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department posted a comment on social media evening about the drowning of a toddler in a neighborhood community north of Houston.
‘This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the toddler’s family at this incredibly difficult time. The investigation is ongoing,” the message said.
According to ESPNThe Bills have been aware of the tragedy since it occurred and Oliver has been involved in training camp ahead of the 2026 season. He also played a role in the Bills’ win over Carolina last weekend. The 28-year-old reportedly asked for “privacy and prayers during this very difficult time.”
The defensive tackle has been with Buffalo since the 2019 NFL draft, when he was selected by the Bills with the ninth overall pick.
He grew up in Houston and chose to play football for his hometown school, turning down offers from Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma, among others.
The Bills were in Cleveland on Saturday to take on the Browns in their penultimate game before the 2026 NFL season.
Podcaster Tony Farmer was the first to reveal the death of Oliver’s son on Friday evening
This isn’t the first time an NFL player’s child has tragically drowned. In 2023, the two-year-old daughter of linebacker Shaq Barrett (left) drowned in a pool at the family’s home in Tampa
But Oliver is not with the rest of Joe Brady’s team as he is dealing with a minor injury. ESPN and NFL Network reported this.
This isn’t the first time an NFL player has tragically lost a child to drowning. In 2023, the two-year-old daughter of linebacker Shaq Barrett died after drowning in a swimming pool at home.
According to the Tampa Police Department, police responded to a call of a child who had fallen into a pool in the Tampa’s Beach Park area.
Arrayah Barrett, who had celebrated her second birthday just weeks earlier, was taken to the hospital, but efforts to save her life were unsuccessful, The Tampa Bay Times reported.
