Former Bills punter Matt Araiza was released last year, in the days following the filing of a civil lawsuit against Araiza and others.
That allegation derailed his NFL career and now the Buffalo Bills are facing heavy criticism for their decision to part ways with him. However, an insider is shedding light on the team’s decision.
Insider Tim Graham was on a roundtable discussion when host Bryant Gumbel criticized the Bills for cutting Araiza so quickly. Graham, a longtime Bills reporter, revealed why the team moved as fast as they did at the time.
At the time of the lawsuit, Araiza’s lawyer misrepresented the information that the Bills had about the case, Graham said. That played a major factor in the team’s decision to release him.
“The sentiment doesn’t take into account that in the 48 hours between lawsuit and release, Araiza’s attorney lied publicly about what the Bills knew. This infuriated the Bills,” Graham tweeted.
“That, of course, besmirched only the Bills, who drafted him and gave him the job,” Graham tweeted.
In the meantime, Araiza, a free-agent punter who was cleared of criminal wrongdoing when he was accused of rape last year, revealed he plans on suing the lawyer of the accuser for defamation.
He was accused in the summer of 2022 of being a part of a gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a party when he was in San Diego State. The lawsuit stated that Araiza had thrown the girl on a bed “face first” and she went in and out of consciousness while others had sex with her.
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The lawsuit added that it lasted an hour and a half, and she left the room bloodied and crying.
A four-month investigation would end with no charges being pressed.
The biggest piece of evidence that showed that Araiza allegedly was not involved was that he “left” the house where the party was being thrown around 12:30 a.m. Prosecutors determined the alleged incident occurred an hour later.
There were also videos of the incident inside the bedroom where prosecutors did not see enough to say it was a gang rape instead of consensual sex.
Now, we can only hope that Araiza can get a second chance in the league.
