Crazy story in the NFL. Remember that punter the Bills drafted, then released because he was allegedly involved in a gang rape?

Turns out Matt Araiza was not actually there.

Ryan Glasspiegel, writing for The New York Post:

Unsealed documents show that prosecutors in the gang rape case of Matt Araiza said that the former Bills punter was not present during the alleged incident.

Araiza and two of his former San Diego State teammates were accused of gang rape at a house party in San Diego in a civil suit last year.

In December, prosecutors declined to press charges in the case, saying there was not enough evidence of proof for a conviction.

Monday, Yahoo Sports reported that a 200-page transcript of a meeting that deputy district attorney Trisha Amador had with the accuser became available, and that Amador said Araiza could not have been the one to lead her toward the alleged gang rape because he had “left” the house an hour before it would have occurred.

The short version of a long story is that this guy was the best punter coming out of college, the Bills took him in the sixth round, then the gang rape allegations surfaced and Buffalo released him. The civil suit alleges that Araiza forced an underage girl into oral sex before leading her into the gang rape, though prosecutors could not prove that the sex was non-consensual. Araiza maintained that his sexual encounter with the girl was consensual and says he did not know she was underage.

No criminal charges were filed, but the civil suit remains active, and the takeaway here is that the guy was released before the legal process was able to play out. If Araiza was a franchise quarterback, and not a rookie punter, the process certainly would have played out differently. It looks like he might be exonerated here entirely, and NFL teams will have to track the civil suit and its outcome before deciding whether or not to bring him in.


The question now is WILL THE EAGLES SIGN MATT ARAIZA? I’m sure someone will write the story. And look, Arryn Siposs is kind of lame when he’s not telling Giants fans to fuck off, so the Birds could surely use an upgrade at punter. The Super Bowl flub will not be mentioned.

As we’ve said before, Jeffrey Lurie runs a clean franchise, and the Eagles don’t typically go for guys who have had legal issues or run-ins with the law. They’re taking a chance with Jalen Carter, but Carter is a generational DT prospect and not some specialist, so it’s hard to say how they, or the rest of the NFL teams, would feel about a punter who could be in the clear.

Someone is going to call for Matt Araiza’s Philadelphia signing. My money is on Dan Sileo to be the first one. WIP will explore the topic, definitely. Those are my top choices.