Matt Araiza accused of rape, served with a lawsuit.

[muppy]

1 minute ago, LeGOATski said:

I highly doubt they'd gamble with this. It's just an indicator of where things truly stand on their end.

so in other words the fix is in...lol naw. I do think that the bills braintrust/ investigators have facts they think exonerate him. 

[Niagara Dude]

Even if he is innocent he should have just paid whatever she was asking for because the media attention is not good and will only get worse with time. This will not go away and not end well.  I hate thinking about it because the timing of the lawsuit right after he secures starting punter position does not pass the smell test and also waiting a whole calendar year to bring this out.

 

The problem is he was at the party and it sounds like almost everyone was drunk so who can you believe,  the questions will always be there no matter what.  I was really excited to see this kid punt but fully understand if the Bills cut him before the season.  The Bills are not the Browns 

[BillsFanNC]

1 hour ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Well, damn. According to this article the Bills have known about this for weeks and still went ahead and released Matt Haack and gave Araiza the job.

 

They must have some information that they feel paints all of this in a different light.

 

 

Yes.

 

The civil lawsuit tells the story from one side. If any of us were slapped with any type of civil lawsuit we'd at minimum want our side to be heard. Presumably the Bills have learned much more about both sides of this story during the past few weeks than anyone here has learned in less than 24 hours. 

 

Let the facts and legal system work. If he's guilty then throw the book at him.  

[LabattBlue]

13 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

NFL teams are usually pretty thorough when they do background checks on players so I’m guessing the Bills investigative arm must have talked to first hand witnesses at the party or checked with law enforcement. 

Well, I guess they weren’t thorough prior to the draft. 

[DasNootz]

14 minutes ago, CNYfan said:

Kim's thoughts?

She’d want to respect his privacy.

Edited August 26, 2022 by DasNootz

[Niagara Dude]

1 hour ago, Mango said:

He can’t admit that. If she was so drunk that he felt this strange girl needed to go upstairs and sleep off whatever was going on in safety; she was too drunk to have given consent to basically bend her over the garbage cans outside of the house. 

Is there a kid who does not have a cell phone these days,  if she was drunk the right thing was to call a cab and get her home not bring into a house party full of horny highly intoxicated college football players

[LabattBlue]

17 minutes ago, CNYfan said:

Kim's thoughts?

I said it yesterday, and I will repeat it…not a good look for an NFL team with a female co-owner/team president. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Just reading around I think it’s interesting that  the player that isn’t on the team anymore is the one that gave the girl Matt Araiza’s phone number after the alleged rape. This is how they recorded him.

 

The other player is the current starting left tackle. 6’4 300+lbs. The other accused player was 6’4 235lbs. Both highly rated freshman players. From the interview and pictures of the injuries the girl looks very petite. I can’t even imagine.

[DCbillsfan]

21 minutes ago, muppy said:

The Bills knowing about this and still cut Haack Wow.  It surprises me. That was a gamble they took in araizas favor.. The plot thickens.

I think YOLO had a good point on Haack vs Araiza.  Regardless of what's going on with Araiza, the Bills didn't want Haack.  So they either stick with Araiza or pick up a punter.

[SectionC3]

15 minutes ago, muppy said:

The Bills knowing about this and still cut Haack Wow.  It surprises me. That was a gamble they took in araizas favor.. The plot thickens.

Makes me wonder how thoroughly the Bills investigated the matter.  The hit job was going to happen in the media whenever Araiza won the job.  Maybe the Bills were sandbagged and led to believe the allegations weren't of this nature.  Or maybe they didn't take is seriously.  I don't know.  But what came out in the complaint is pretty specific and pretty bad. 

[muppy]

4 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Like I said...Deshaun Watson has zero convictions. I'm still ok judging him.

greetings. Regarding judging someone before they are convicted in a court of law here is my take. A civil lawsuit will be heard and he may be found innocent or guilty. But the taint of an allegation like this will be stink that won[t easily wash off either way.  I think they only thing that would be worse than being  sexually assaulted is being wrongfully accused of a sexual assault.  Think about it.

 

watson settled lawsuits based on how many womens testimony? Heck yes I'd boo him. A guy like araiza? IMO not yet. that's just me though.

[SectionC3]

13 minutes ago, DRsGhost said:

 

Yes.

 

The civil lawsuit tells the story from one side. If any of us were slapped with any type of civil lawsuit we'd at minimum want our side to be heard. Presumably the Bills have learned much more about both sides of this story during the past few weeks than anyone here has learned in less than 24 hours. 

 

Let the facts and legal system work. If he's guilty then throw the book at him.  

 

I agree with most of this except presumably.  If they knew this is what the allegations were going to look like and they still thought it was worth taking the PR hit over a rookie punter (and cutting Haack before they knew who else might be around to take his place if they dumped Araiza first), then I would be very surprised. 

[pocoboy]

34 minutes ago, muppy said:

WHOA. Wow to the first line. I hope so to the second.

87 page thread in less than 24 hours. I am so behind.

 

This happened nearly a year ago. In this day, the authorities would be bringing Araiza & company in extremely quickly if things matched up. The story says she reported the incident immediately. So why would SD police sit on this for months? Not to mention the attorney for the accuser completely makes it sound like a shakedown, and does the accuser no justice by listing his current employer in his rhetoric.

 

Even if consensual the actions are distasteful, but hell I'd say the worst part is what's being reported about Araiza's conversation with the victim set up by the police. Even if this guy was two steps away from sainthood, why would this team need to draft a punter when you go three & out, like, never? Then top it off with this, which was almost certainly coming up if they did any vetting. This sounds like an impulse move from the team, "Hey, we are stacked, what would rub it in? Let's draft a punter!" They probably did no vetting predraft, and now are paying the price. But Araiza comes off sounding like the guy who would let himself be anointed "punt god". Mega-ego.

 

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by pocoboy

[CEN-CAL17]

13 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

The LA Times says it was the Football Team that “Gang Raped” …. I will just wait for the facts. This can go so many directions 

[pocoboy]

4 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

 

I agree with most of this except presumably.  If they knew this is what the allegations were going to look like and they still thought it was worth taking the PR hit over a rookie punter (and cutting Haack before they knew who else might be around to take his place if they dumped Araiza first), then I would be very surprised. 

 

Yeah I feel like they did no vetting pre-draft, because I highly doubt they'd have wanted this headache.

[Billsflyer12]

7 hours ago, chongli said:

 

Release Araiza? But what if he hasn't done anything wrong?

Then another team can sign him if they wish.  He could be 100% innocent, and Bills should cut him.  A punter not worth all of this.  BTW if this was Allen he should today be on Commissioner Exempt list.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

2 minutes ago, pocoboy said:

 

This happened nearly a year ago. In this day, the authorities would be bringing Araiza & company in extremely quickly if things matched up. The story says she reported the incident immediately. So why would SD police sit on this for months? Not to mention the attorney for the accuser completely makes it sound like a shakedown, and does the accuser no justice by listing his current employer in his rhetoric.

 

Even if consensual the actions are distasteful, but hell I'd say the worst part is what's being reported about Araiza's conversation with the victim set up by the police. Even if this guy was two steps away from sainthood, why would this team need to draft a punter when you go three & out, like, never? Then top it off with this, which was almost certainly coming up if they did any vetting. This sounds like an impulse move from the team, "Hey, we are stacked, what would rub it in? Let's draft a punter!" They probably did no vetting predraft, and now are paying the price. But Araiza comes off sounding like the guy who would let himself be anointed "punt god". Mega-ego.

 

 

The girl says they filed the lawsuit because they are unable to get the results of the rape kit. She said she doesn’t know why it’s taking so long. The evidence was only recently given to the DA to decide on charges.

 

 

[BarleyNY]

58 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I haven't comment until now because for me this is black-and-white.

 

If he participated in a crime, and/OR gave statements that were not true to cover up any kind of investigation, he gets cut.

 

If he didn't participate in a crime, you keep him.

Yup. When considering the kind of crimes we are discussing, that’s the only course of action. I am giving the Bills the benefit of doubt at the moment. They might have been getting their info from Araiza’s lawyer and may not have known all of what is coming out.
 

The Bills have a very legit shot at a SB.  You don’t invite this kind of distraction for a punter. Any punter. Sign his replacement after cut downs and move on. 

[SectionC3]

14 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Just reading around I think it’s interesting that  the player that isn’t on the team anymore is the one that gave the girl Matt Araiza’s phone number after the alleged rape. This is how they recorded him.

 

The other player is the current starting left tackle. 6’4 300+lbs. The other accused player was 6’4 235lbs. Both highly rated freshman players. From the interview and pictures of the injuries the girl looks very petite. I can’t even imagine.

Also makes me wonder about whether this was a pre-planned shakedown.  This incident occurred before Araiza was on NFL radars, right?  (Or maybe at about the same time as he was getting noticed.)  Point is, the alleged vic made a point of finding Araiza to follow up on this before he was the "punt god" and a Buffalo Bill (fleeting as perhaps that may be).  So while I acknowledge that what happened yesterday was driven in part by his status as a rostered member of the Bills (he's the "target" D; the filing was timed to leverage him and the Bills just before the start of the season and after Haack was cut), I frankly doubt that this is a situation in which the alleged vic had an encounter with a football star that was consensual and that she rethought for the purpose of extorting him immediately thereafter. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by SectionC3

[muppy]

19 minutes ago, pocoboy said:

 

 

 But Araiza comes off sounding like the guy who would let himself be anointed "punt god". Mega-ego.

 

 

To the bolded My perception was that araiza never felt comfortable with that. But the moniker has stuck around anyway. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by muppy