The Buffalo Bills publicly confirmed a family tragedy involving defensive tackle Ed Oliver on Saturday, but the announcement quickly became part of a separate controversy over how the news reached the public.
Tony Farmer had posted about the death of Oliver’s two-year-old son before the team’s statement, framing the lack of previous reporting as a “media blackout.” That decision drew immediate criticism from several NFL media figures and fans who argued Oliver deserved to grieve privately.
NFL World Calls Out Tony Farmer Over Ed Oliver Reporting
Denver Broncos reporter Benjamin Allbright criticized the decision after Buffalo issued its statement.
“It’s a shame the team had to do this and Ed Oliver wasn’t allowed to grieve on his own timeline because an engagement Farmer disgustingly felt entitled to information about the death of a two-year-old,” he wrote in an X post.
It’s a shame the team had to do this and Ef Oliver wasn’t allowed to grieve on his own timeline because an engagement Farmer disgustingly felt entitled to information about the death of a two-year-old. https://t.co/wbYRVejfF5
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) August 22, 2026
Lindsey Ok was even harsher. “This (expletive) grifter is sick in the head,” she wrote in her post, arguing that the death of someone’s child should be theirs to discuss rather than content used to generate attention.
She followed with another criticism of the race to break the news. “Trying to victory lap being ‘first’ on someone’s worst day of their life is lame as (expletive),” she wrote in a second post.
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Allbright responded by accusing Farmer of repeatedly exploiting personal situations. “There is no low he won’t stoop to, no lie he won’t tell. No disgusting thing he won’t try to exploit,” he wrote in his reply.
Scott Kacsmar reduced his criticism to one cutting comparison: “He wants to be NFL Perez Hilton,” he wrote in another reply.
He wants to be NFL Perez Hilton.
— Scott Kacsmar (@ScottKacsmar) August 22, 2026
NFL Draft analyst John Vogel also criticized the handling of the story, writing that it was “miserable” to see a lack of respect for other people and an attempt to create scandals from their misfortune in his post.
Referring to Lindsey’s post, Vogel wrote, “This was the first thing I thought of when I read the story. Tony C Owens is gonna be like ‘that’s weird why didn’t they report this immediately?’ And start another conspiracy chain of NFL coverups. Tony will try to link this to Vrable/Russini/Shanahan somehow too.”
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Bills Confirm Devastating Loss as Family Asks for Privacy
The Bills released a team statement from general manager Brandon Beane on Saturday expressing condolences to Oliver and his family. Beane called the death “an unthinkable tragedy for any parent” and said the organization would continue supporting the family.
ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe and Alaina Getzenberg reported that Oliver and his family are asking for “privacy and prayers at this very difficult time,” while the Associated Press separately reported the child was found unresponsive in a residential pool in Harris County, Texas, on June 28.
The Houston Chronicle identified Oliver’s son as the two-year-old child who died after being found unresponsive in a residential pool in Harris County, Texas, on June 28.
The controversy surrounding Farmer centered less on whether the information was accurate and more on whether being able to report something meant it needed to be reported immediately. Awful Announcing reported that Buffalo media members had been aware of the tragedy for weeks, while ESPN reported the Bills and Oliver were aligned on when the news would become public.
For many of the people criticizing Farmer, that distinction was the entire issue. A public figure’s family tragedy eventually became news, but they believed the family should have controlled when the world learned about the worst day of their lives.
