Earlier this week, some truly shocking allegations came to light against Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza. Of course, the National Football League was already dealing with the fallout from the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson, who has seen his suspension lengthened from six to a total of 11 games.
Araiza, a former student at San Diego State University, is being named in a civil lawsuit was filed in the San Diego County Superior Court on along with two other men of raping a 17 year old high school senior last year during an off-campus party. He was held out of yesterday’s preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, and now he’s been informed of his fate.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane announced earlier this evening that Araiza has been released from the team, effective immediately.
Bills have informed rookie punter Matt Araiza that he is being released, effective immediately. Araiza has been accused along with two others of gang raping a 17-year-old girl last year in a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 27, 2022
http://gty.im/1413307915
The Bills have released P Matt Araiza
“We tried to be thorough and thoughtful and not rush to judgment, and I would say it’s not easy,” Beane said. “You’re trying to put facts around a legal situation sometimes with limited information.”
He continued: “There are many things that we could not get our hands on. This was about letting Matt go handle his situation.”
The victim’s attorney recently shared bruised photos of his client, as well as excerpts from her hand-written diary.
“I feel like I should be documenting how I feel just to get through it but I don’t even know how to feel,” the handwritten diary read, “A part of me can’t help but feel guilty and wonder if I could have prevented it.”
Meanwhile, the alleged victim’s father recently released a statement criticizing the response from the University.
“After over 10 months now since the incident and report filings with the SDPD and SDSUPD and over two and a half months of media coverage, the SDPD hasn’t made any arrests, SDSU hasn’t made any updates on their Title IX investigation, and the DA has yet to file any criminal charges,” he said in the statement.
