Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has broken his silence following the drowning death of his teammate Ed Oliver’s 2-year-old son, also named Ed.
“First off, I want to say thank you to the ones that knew about it, and allowed him to have his moment and his time. It’s very sad,” Allen, 30, told reporters during a press conference on Saturday, August 22. “And, you know how it came out — it makes me very, very sad and angry at the same time.
The Buffalo Bills organization publicly announced the death of Oliver’s son on Saturday after multiple sports influencers speculated about the tragedy on social media in recent days. Multiple NFL insiders confirmed they were aware of the toddler’s death but held off reporting it out of respect for Oliver,28, and his family.”
Allen — who welcomed his first child, daughter Harper, with wife Hailee Steinfeld in April — shared his displeasure over the “very unfortunate” way the news was leaked.
“As a teammate of [Ed] and as someone in this locker room, all we can do is love on him,” he added. “There’s nothing that you can say to make the situation any better but except being there for him in whatever ways he needs. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do. That’s what teammates do. We love up on each other and try to hold each other up when we’re down. I can’t imagine what he’s going through.”
Per the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, officers responded to “an in-progress life-in-danger call” at Oliver’s Texas home on June 28 and were told that the 2-year-old child was found “unresponsive in the pool” by his parents. (ESPN and TMZ were first to report the news.)
The toddler was transferred to a local Houston, Texas, hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:18 pm, officials said. Oliver was not directly named in the Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s statement.
Us has reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment.
“There’s nothing you can say. There’s nothing that you can do,” Allen said on Saturday. “You have to look at someone in a situation like that. [They feel] what they feel and do what they need to do. His teammates, that’s what we’ve been doing, is giving him his space and time. But at the same time, being around him, loving up on him. Not trying to do anything to reopen that. We understand that a lot of guys in the locker room knew, especially on the D-line. He spent a lot of time with those guys and everyone [is] just rallying around him. And again, he’s not here right now. Not because of [the tragedy].”
The QB went on to say, “Just guys being around him and putting their hand on him and not having to say too much. So, he’s got your back. Let’s play football. Again, I think guys are very cognizant of the fact of what he’s going through, how he’s feeling, what he’s feeling. We’re just there for him in any way that he needs us.”
The Bills organization has been “aware of the [death of Oliver’s son] since it occurred” and was “aligned” with the defensive tackle in terms of publicly sharing condolences, per ESPN.
Despite the personal tragedy, Oliver has been participating in training camp activities with the Bills this summer. He was held out of the team’s preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday due to a “minor injury,” according to ESPN. (The Bills were victorious over the Browns, 31-7.)
Earlier on Saturday, the Buffalo Bills publicly offered their “condolences” to Oliver and his family in their time of mourning.
“On behalf of the entire Buffalo Bills organization, we want to publicly express our condolences to Ed Oliver and his family on the devastating loss of his son,” the team’s general manager, Brandon Beane, said in a statement. “It’s an unthinkable tragedy for any parent.”
He added, “We will continue to support Ed and his family as we all grieve this loss.”
Bills head coach Joe Brady said during a press conference on Saturday that he couldn’t “fathom” the pain Oliver and his family must be enduring.
“Whatever [mourning] looks like, however someone might want to handle it, it’s however he wants us to handle it,” Brody, 36, told reporters. “Look, he’s not here right now [at Saturday’s preseason game] because of an injury and dealing with that. This [tragedy] isn’t the reason he’s not here.”
He continued, “It’s hard. It’s hard whenever I see him. I can’t imagine it and I haven’t had the words since. I don’t really have the words 1787468491 but all I can do is just be there for him in whatever way he needs.”
Oliver has spent his entire NFL career with the Bills, having been picked ninth overall by the team during the 2019 NFL Draft. He played for the University of Houston Cougars in college.
The athlete also shares a daughter, Eva, with his partner Dymond Gladney.
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