Bills Release Punter Matt Araiza Amid Gang Rape Lawsuit

Editor’s note: This story contains alleged accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org

The Bills have released rookie punter Matt Araiza amid allegations of his participation in a gang rape of a 17-year-old girl while at San Diego State last year.

The news of Araiza’s release was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and announced shortly thereafter by Bills general manager Brandon Beane.

“This afternoon, we decided that releasing Matt Araiza was the best thing to do,” Beane said, per the team. “Our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games.”

Araiza, 22, was named along with former SDSU teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko in a lawsuit filed Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court. The complaint alleged that Ariaza raped the minor, who said she was already drinking with friends before attending the party, outside of an off-campus party last year. The girl, now 18, says Araiza, who lived at the residence and was a junior at the time, then took her to a bedroom where Leonard, Ewaliko and at least one other man were present, and the group proceeded to rape and assault her for an hour and a half until the party was shut down.

According to the suit, the girl “stumbled out of the room” following the assault “bloody and crying. Her nose, bellybutton, and ear piercings had been pulled out, and she was also bleeding from her vagina.”

In the wake of the allegations, Araiza did not play in the Bills’ preseason game against the Panthers on Friday. The 2022 sixth-round pick recently won the starting job after the club released veteran Matt Haack earlier this week.

During a press conference held shortly after Buffalo released Araiza, Beane addressed the reason for the decision as well as reports concerning the team’s prior knowledge of the accusations leading up to Thursday’s events. The Athletic’s Tim Graham reported Friday the Bills failed to reach out to the plaintiff after learning about the situation last month. Buffalo declined to offer a comment on the matter that same day but announced they did conduct a “thorough investigation on the matter.”

Beane, who said the decision was made for non-football reasons, said the Bills first became aware of them in late July after the plaintiff’s representative “laid out some of the things that they were accusing Matt and others of” during a conversation with a team legal rep. He also noted that the neither the team nor the league knew about the allegations at the time of the draft in June.

“We’ve reached out to double digit teams, and no one knew about this,” he said, per The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia.

Beane also explained the reason behind why the club did not act sooner upon learning about the allegations, telling reporters Buffalo didn’t “have the means to put all the facts together” and that they are still “piecing together” information at this time.

“At that time, our process, we tried to be thorough and thoughtful and not rush to judgment,” Beane said. “I would say it’s not easy, you’re trying to put facts around a legal situation sometimes with limited information. And so, ultimately, that’s where we’re at today with this decision.”

The lawsuit comes nearly two months after the Los Angeles Times reported that five members of SDSU’s football team were reported to campus officials last fall for a rape that was alleged to have taken place at a house party off-campus. The school incurred immediate backlash after the report noted it failed to launch an internal investigation or student disciplinary proceeding more than seven months after being made aware of the incident. SDSU eventually opened its own Title IX investigation nine months after the allegations first surfaced.

The university addressed why it waited to begin its investigation during the announcement, saying that the “San Diego Police Department requested that SDSU not take any action, including launching an investigation and conducting interviews, regarding the reported off campus sexual assault to avoid compromising its own criminal investigation.”

On Friday, Araiza issued his first public statement on the matter via ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Because the incident occurred while he was in college, Araiza is not subject to NFL discipline.

“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,” he said.