Bills ban own reporter Chris Brown for violating team media policy

Buffalo Bills radio host and web reporter Chris Brown has been suspended for an indefinite period after he appeared to violate the team’s media policy.

Brown has not been at a practice since Aug. 17, though the Bills have not confirmed that he is suspended. He’s still listed in the team’s media directory, which would indicate he has not been fired. According to Tim Graham of The Athletic, Brown disappeared from covering Bills practices after he shared a number of training camp observations he had made on the team’s show “One Bills Live.”

Brown went into detail about where several different players were lined up during practice. He also spoke about certain players working with starters and other with backups. Buffalo’s 2020 media policy, which was distributed to reporters on Aug. 16, forbids reporting on game strategy, snap counts and with which units players are working. Changes to the policy were made for competitive reasons after the NFL decided fans would not be allowed at training camp and canceled preseason games.

As Graham notes, Brown also called attention to a tweet from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy last week. Portnoy said his company is “very serious” about buying the naming rights to the Bills’ stadium.

Stadium naming development here. Head of Barstool Sports. #Bills https://t.co/EZbomSKGyb

— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrownBills) August 20, 2020

Brown’s last tweet came less than two hours after he commented on Portnoy’s tweet, so it’s unclear if that also got him into trouble with the Bills.

Bills coach Sean McDermott was recently very outspoken about the NFL’s fan policy for this season and how it could create an unfair advantage. It appears the Bills are thinking an awful lot about competitive advantage this year.