Major legal update on tragic drowning death of Buffalo Bills star’s two-year-old son
The devastating drowning death of Buffalo Bills star Ed Oliver’s two-year-old son has now been ruled an accident.
According to TMZ, the police investigation has now been closed and there are no criminal charges expected to be filed against Oliver or anyone else.
Oliver’s son, also named Ed, tragically drowned in a swimming pool located at the star’s Texas home on June 28.
Authorities responded to a life-in-danger call after the child’s parents discovered him in the pool, unresponsive. The toddler was rushed to a local hospital and was pronounced dead.
While the tragedy happened months ago, news of the drowning wasn’t released until this past weekend.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane released a statement on Saturday which read: ‘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 death of Ed Oliver’s two-year-old son has been ruled by authorities as an accident
Oliver is pictured with his two-year-old son Ed Jr, who drowned at the end of June in Houston
‘It is an unthinkable tragedy for any parent. We will continue to support Ed and his family as we all grieve this tragic loss.’
According to ESPN, the 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 featured in the Bills’ preseason win over Carolina last weekend. The 28-year-old is said to have asked for ‘privacy and prayers at this very difficult time.’
His teammate, and the Bills’ star quarterback, Josh Allen slammed the sports reporter who broke the news before Oliver was able to share it himself.
Beane’s statement was not the first public reveal of the tragedy after social media sports reporter Tony Farmer first broke the news to his 24,000 X followers on Friday evening.
Speaking to the media after the Bills’ preseason win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, Allen took some time to share his thoughts on the situation – and in particular, the unsavory way it came out.
‘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,’ Allen said. ‘It’s very sad in how it came out. It makes me very sad and angry at the same time.
‘Obviously, very unfortunate what happened and as a teammate of him, as someone in this locker room, all we can do is love on him. There’s nothing that you can say to make the situation any better except being there in whatever ways he needs.’
Josh Allen hit out at the podcaster who broke the news of Ed Oliver’s two-year-old son’s death
He later added: ‘It’s very unfortunate how it came about. I appreciate (those) that knew and didn’t want to bring it up. It’s no one’s place to really let that out there except him and his family’s when the time came for it, but we roll now and be there for him as teammates.’
Allen himself is a new dad, having recently welcomed his first daughter, Harper, with his actress wife Hailee Steinfeld back in April.
Oliver, a 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 opted to play football for his hometown school, snubbing offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma.
The Bills played in Cleveland over the weekend and easily handled the Browns.
But Oliver was not with the rest of Joe Brady’s team as he continues to deal with a minor injury, ESPN and NFL Network reported.