The Buffalo Bills released punter Matt Araiza less than a week after a civil lawsuit was filed against the NFL rookie claiming that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old with two of his San Diego State University teammates in October 2021.
Matt Araiza via Buffalo Bills YouTube
The official Buffalo Bills Twitter account announced Araiza’s release. The organization wrote, “We have released punter Matt Araiza.”
Buffalo Bills Twitter
The release comes less than a week after the Los Angeles Times reported a civil lawsuit was filed against Araiza claiming he was part “of gang raping a 17-year-old girl last year at an off-campus party.”
The lawsuit specifically states, “During the early morning hours of Sunday, October 17, 2021, Defendants Araiza, Leonard, and Waliko gang-raped Doe, then a 17 year-old minor, inside the Residence during a Halloween party.”
It goes on to detail that Araiza handed her a drink that “not only contained alcohol, but other intoxicating substances.”
Matt Araiza via Buffalo Bills YouTube
From there it claims that the girl “informed Araiza that she attended Grossmont High School” and that he “knew or should have known that Doe was a minor.” Araiza then allegedly took the girl to the side of the yard and “told her to perform oral sex on him.” After oral sex was performed, it then details the two had sex.
The lawsuit then claims that Araiza took the girl into the house and into a bedroom, where “at least three other men” were. He then threw her on the bed face down. While on the bed it claims that she “went in and out of consciousness while she was being raped.” The suit claims she was “raped for about an hour and a half until the party was shut down.”
It then concludes that she “stumbled out of the room bloody and crying. Her nose, belly button, and ear piercings had been pulled out, she was also bleeding from her vagina.”
Matt Araiza via Buffalo Bills YouTube
After detailing the specifics of the alleged crime, the lawsuit also indicates that the girl worked with police to perform “arranged recorded ‘pretext’ calls with men they had determined were present in the room.”
During a pretext call with Araiza, the lawsuit claims he “confirmed having sex with Doe, even telling her that she should get tested for STDs.” However, the suit also states that when the girl asked Araiza,” And did we have actual sex?” He responded saying, “This is Matt Araiza. I don’t remember anything that happened that night.” He then hung up.
The lawsuit specifically accuses Araiza of rape, gender violence, violation of the Ralph Act, false imprisonment, violation of civic code § 1714, and premises liability.
Matt Araiza via Buffalo Bills YouTube
Araiza’s lawyer Kerry Armstrong told The Los Angeles Times, “It’s a shakedown because he’s now with the Buffalo Bills.”
A criminal investigation is also apparently ongoing but the outlet notes, “No arrests have been made and San Diego police have not publicly identified any suspects. Detectives recently submitted their investigation to the San Diego County district attorney’s office to determine whether charges should be filed.”
Matt Araiza via Buffalo Bills YouTube
The Bills initially released statement as reported by NFL Network’s Mike Girardi, “We were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021. Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case, we will have no other comment at this point.”
Mike Girardi Twitter
Araiza also issued a statement as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
He said, “The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight.”
Ian Rapoport Twitter
Bills head coach Sean McDermott addressed the lawsuit following the Bills’ 21-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers during the NFL Preseason saying, “What we have going on with one of our team right now in Matt Araiza is a situation that is extremely serious. Just hard to go through and — it’s not a situation that I or we take lightly whatsoever. And it’s very serious.”
He added, “I understand the sensitivity of the situation and it’s clear we have work to do to continue to figure this thing out here and we’re going to do that.
When asked by one reporter about the organizational response to the accusations in the lawsuit, he said, “We have work to do. We have work to do.”
He also replied to a question about the spirits in the locker room, “Where do you want to start? It is something that hat I and we take very seriously and that’s where we’re at.”
Also during the press conference he said, “Again, it’s not a situation that we take lightly. I’m hurt. I understand they’re hurt. It’s emotional. It’s not easy to hear about some of the things that I’ve heard about over the last several hours say.”
“Haven’t slept a lot to be honest with you. Because this is a game, but there’s other things that are more important to this,” he added.
Sean McDermott via Buffalo Bills YouTube
Later in the press conference he said, “People are hurt. People are hurting. Fans are hurting. I understand that. And again, we want to find the truth and figure this thing out the right way and do the right thing. That’s what I know to do and that’s what we are going to work on.”
When asked if he learned new information in the last 24 hours, he responded, “I would say there’s been some. There’s been some. I’m not going to deny that. That’s why I have more work to do on this.”
He concluded saying, “I’m more trying to be solution oriented right now. And that’s where I’m headed and that’s where we need to be headed.”
Sean McDermott via Buffalo Bills YouTube
Bills General Manager Brandon Beane implied the team would be releasing Araiza following the team’s practice on Saturday saying, “Ultimately, this is a legal situation. We don’t know all the facts. That’s what makes it hard. But at this time we think it’s the best move for everyone to move on from Matt and let him take care of this situation and focus on that. So we’re going to part ways there.”
When asked why this was the appropriate time to move on from Araiza, Beane explained, “Ultimately, we thought it was best for everybody for Matt to—. It’s a very serious situation, Heather. And with the serious nature and allegations, we just can’t — we don’t have the means to put all the facts together. There’s multiple versions of what happened and he’s a football coach (referring to McDermott) and I’m a GM.”
“We don’t have access to everything,” he continued. “So that’s more important than playing football. So we want Matt to focus on that.”
Brandon Beane via Buffalo Bills YouTube
Beane did reveal that neither he nor the NFL knew about these accusations during the draft explaining, “We did not know about this. The league did not know about this. I know people are out there trying to find out. There’s no one. We’ve reached out to — I can tell you — double digit teams at this point, and no one had anything on this.”
“These names were sealed whatever the investigation was at that point,” he added.
As for whether or not this information might have affected whether or not they would have drafted Araiza, Beane said, “You know how important the character and the culture is to Sean and me. Anything that would have been lingering that would have been off our board.”
He later detailed, “This is more important than football. Our culture, here, is more important to us than winning football games.”
Matt Araiza via Buffalo Bills YouTube
What do you make of the Buffalo Bills’ move to release Araiza following these accusations?