RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Buffalo Bills world has been rocked by the passing of Ed Oliver's young son.
While Oliver's son passed away in June , many kept the story under wraps while waiting for the Bills star, or the team, to break the news to the world – when the time was right. That quickly changed on Aug. 21, when news circulated on social media about the tragic nature of his 2-year-old son's passing.
Josh Allen was among those to stand up for Oliver following the Bills' preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 22, expressing sadness and anger with the nature of how the story surfaced.
"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, via The Athletic's Tim Graham . "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."
Allen added that they have allowed Oliver to feel how he feels and do what he needs to do.
"As 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, but not trying to do anything to reopen that," Allen said.
Despite the tragedy, Oliver still reported to training camp. Allen spoke about the amount of strength that required, pointing out that he now has a child of his own.
"I couldn’t imagine the strength that it takes to do that," Allen said. "For him to be that strong for himself, his family, I can’t speak highly enough about it. It’s very hard to wrap your mind around a teammate going through a situation like that because you have kids, you understand what that could be like and what that could feel like. You never want to put yourself in that situation or those shoes.
"He’s a strong man."
On multiple occasions, the star quarterback explained that he was annoyed with how the news came to light.
"It’s no one’s place to really let that out there except him and his families when the time came for it, but we roll now and be there for him as teammates," Allen said.
Allen wasn't the only one to speak about Oliver and his family. Before the game, Bills general manager Brandon Beane released a statement expressing grief for the loss.
"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. It's an unthinkable tragedy for any parent. We will continue to support Ed and his family as we all grieve this tragic loss," Beane said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Josh Allen, Bills stand behind Ed Oliver as DT deals with son's passing
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