McDermott/Beane press conference 8/27: Matt Araiza released

[Augie]

4 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Wearing other's jersey is creepy.  You and me aren't the QB's girlfriend in Grade 10 study hall on a Friday afternoon! 😉

 

No. Not in many years. 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

1 minute ago, Nelius said:

 

It's actually also my name but hey heck of a jump. I'll change the pic if it bothers you that much.

 

A jump?

 

Your avatar is a picture of rapist Cornelius Bennett.

 

Interesting reaction to finding out you are clueless.........don't shoot the messenger, Cornelius.

[ExiledInIllinois]

It was his residence.   He's screwed!

 

"...A lawsuit filed in San Diego County Superior Court accused Araiza and two teammates of raping a then-17-year-old girl at a Halloween party at an off-campus home where Araiza had been living. A San Diego police investigation has been turned over to the district attorney’s office to determine whether to pursue charges. DA spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said Friday there was no timeline as to how long a decision will take. ..."

[Jay_Fixit]

1 hour ago, Warcodered said:

Right if they're not screwing up a hold they're shanking every other punt, or getting sued for sexually assaulting a minor.

It’s mind blowing to me the amount of time this board spends talking about punters.

[Nelius]

1 minute ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

A jump?

 

Your avatar is a picture of rapist Cornelius Bennett.

 

Interesting reaction to finding out you are clueless.........don't shoot the messenger, Cornelius.

 

I mean it's my name dude I'm sorry if that reaction floors you. Your tangent is interesting.

[Warcodered]

4 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

Quote

The team then stood by the player by announcing it “conducted a thorough examination” into the matter a day after the lawsuit was filed.

 

I think that's a bit much he didn't play in the game that day and was cut the following day, not sure I'd call that standing by him.

[Albany,n.y.]

3 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said:

It’s mind blowing to me the amount of time this board spends talking about punters.

Just wait until we sign the new punter.  300 page minimum. 

[Augie]

4 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

Actually, he got his client what she wanted. She said last month she's not in it for the money and that she doesn't want MA to make money in the NFL. 

 

It was Araiza's attorney that reached out and offered for a cash settlement first. Her attorney said no settlement. It was Araiza's attorney that warned not to force the Bills hand to cut him bc they're be no money to get. 

 

They want public, said it wasn't about money. Now he's cut and won't get his salary. The claim that it's a cash grab holds little water. 

 

 

Who does NOT say it’s not about the money?

 

We’ll probably never know, but why go after the one guy who happened to make an NFL team, right when he made it. I think I’d have gone after SDSU first. Who do you think has deeper pockets?  Hint: It is not a 6th round rookie. I don’t care if the police told them they were handling it, that institution bears some blame if they let this slide.  There is something strange about all this, and none of us know all the facts. Certainly not myself. 

[McDeerInTheHeadlights]

I can't listen to the interview right now,  so I hope someone can clarify a couple of points.

 

Have they been asked or addressed if they explored any other options such as putting Araiza on some kind of exemption list or suspend and replace him till things got clearer rather than releasing him outright?

 

If I'm not mistaken, few, well very few apparently, teams were aware to a minor extent that there was a "situation" involving Araiza at draft time. Have they been asked why they think they failed to gather similar intelligence at the time and how they expect to make sure it won't happen again?

 

In other words, was this press conference a pure PR operation or there was some kind of self-reflection or root cause analysis, if you wish to call it that, involved?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited August 28, 2022 by McDeerInTheHeadlights

[Bubba Gump]

1 hour ago, BigDingus said:

 

And her's.

Supposedly she told her father soon after. I have three daughter's, and if one if them told me that...I'd be locked up for the rest of my life. I'd find him and absolutely destroy him. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

11 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

Actually, he got his client what she wanted. She said last month she's not in it for the money and that she doesn't want MA to make money in the NFL. 

 

It was Araiza's attorney that reached out and offered for a cash settlement first. Her attorney said no settlement. It was Araiza's attorney that warned not to force the Bills hand to cut him bc they're be no money to get. 

 

They want public, said it wasn't about money. Now he's cut and won't get his salary. The claim that it's a cash grab holds little water. 

 

First I heard this clearly.  Thnx.

 

Fair enough.

 

Once again,  if it makes her whole, it makes her whole.  Why should he get rich in the world of have's and many have not!

 

Punt him to a Wendy's drive-thru.  You want a chocolate Frosty with that!

Edited August 28, 2022 by ExiledInIllinois

[John from Riverside]

2 hours ago, djp14150 said:

This concept of innocent until proven guilty.

 

if you want toget rid of a coworker because you two appear to be the leaders fir a promotion…have someone make a claim against him then he gets removed and you win.  It does not matter if it’s actually true.

How does that fly in this case Ariza literally was the only competition

[chongli]

Now that the Bills have done the right thing, I'm just waiting for the Rams to do the right thing too, and suspend Aaron Donald for one game for helmet swinging. 😄

[Motorin']

1 minute ago, Augie said:

 

Who does NOT say it’s not about the money?

 

We’ll probably never know, but why go after the one guy who happened to make an NFL team, right when he made it. I think I’d have gone after SDSU first. Who do you think has deeper pockets?  Hint: It is not a 6th round rookie. I don’t care if the police told them they were handling it, that institution bears some blame if they let this slide.  There is something strange about all this, and none of us know all the facts. Certainly not myself. 

 

She said it's not about her getting money. But about her getting justice, and she doesn't want to see him make a ton of money. 

 

She came forward publicly on June 3rd to the media in San Diego. 

 

If it was a money grab, they would have waited as long as possible so that he'd have more money to go after. 

[Meatloaf63]

2 hours ago, Ralonzo said:

A victory for emotion over reason. Would rather have seen a balanced approach from the team, league, and society. Welcome to 2022 I guess..

 

I wonder how the rest of the NFL feels about anyone with an ax to grind and a sleazy lawyer being able to turn the outcomes of games, seasons, careers, with well timed Twitter ambushes. Is it too much to wonder, with the amount of wagering that is constantly being promoted, that where the sums are great and the margins are thin that anything becomes fair game?

The easy  path was to just release him. The hard path would have been to stand up to the cancel culture and wait for this to be settled in a court of law, not the court of public opinion. How fast would Bean released Josh if the accusations were pointed at him? How many here would be singing a different tune if it was? It should not be any different for the punter than from the qb. Everyone should be considered innocent until proven guilty. There has to be be a better way to deal with these situations.

[John from Riverside]

10 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

It was his residence.   He's screwed!

 

"...A lawsuit filed in San Diego County Superior Court accused Araiza and two teammates of raping a then-17-year-old girl at a Halloween party at an off-campus home where Araiza had been living. A San Diego police investigation has been turned over to the district attorney’s office to determine whether to pursue charges. DA spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said Friday there was no timeline as to how long a decision will take. ..."

This is actually a big deal because there was some fogginess of whether or not it was a house that Ariza lived in or not if that literally was his house and a girl got raped there he’s in trouble

 

At the end of the day now McDermott and Bean can go back to ax her in questions about football and any reporter that keeps on going on with this they should just skip over

[AuntieEm]

21 minutes ago, Malazan said:

 

No team will touch him until the criminal and civil cases are resolved.

 

If the DA declines to prosecute and he settles the civil case (or it gets dropped) quickly then he could see a team look his way later this year. 

 

   The Bills could sign him to the PS if he was cleared of any possible criminal charges.  And with no criminal charges against Araiza but possibly some conviction of one or more of the other players may prevent a civil verdict for the accuser and they may find there wasn't enough proof  Araiz as had any liability in her gaming rape which may indeed have occurred but was perpetrated by other people that were at the residence.  For all we know the other named players may have exonerated Araiza as well as the sex she performed with Araiza took place outside by all reports I read and perhaps there was a lot of video footage obtained from neighbors with some partial views of where Araiza and the victim hooked up.  Maybe there's video evidence th a Araqiza never entered the house but is seen leaving entirely.

 

21 minutes ago, Malazan said:

All other options would take too much time for a team to look at him this year. If the criminal or civil case is resolved by him losing in court then yea, never. 

 

Plus If your trying to establish yourself as a top athlete in the NFL you don't need all the stress of this legal issue impacting on your performance.  

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just now, John from Riverside said:

This is actually a big deal because there was some fogginess of whether or not it was a house that Ariza lived in or not if that literally was his house and a girl got raped there he’s in trouble

 

Yupper! His residence.   He just had sex and doesn't take care of her, in his residence.   That's bad.  He's got liability here. He doesn't know a pair of guys are committing rape in his residence! Wow!

[Punch]

1 hour ago, BigAl2526 said:

OK - with Araiza gone, Buffalo has some time before they settle on a new punter.  They can wait for other teams' cuts or sign one of the free agents that are available.  In another thread, somebody suggested Bruce Kern, currently with the Titans, might get cut.  Buffalo Rumblings has a short list of free agents.    

 

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2022/8/27/23324591/list-of-free-agent-punters-for-buffalo-bills-to-sign-michael-palardy-matt-araiza 

On to Palardy.

[Wayne Arnold]

2 minutes ago, McDeerInTheHeadlights said:

Have they been asked or addressed if they explored any other options such as putting Araiza on some kind of exemption list or suspend and replace him till things got clearer rather than releasing him outright?

 

If I'm not mistaken, few, well very few apparently, teams were aware to a minor extent that there was a "situation" involving Araiza at draft time. Have they been asked why they think they failed to gather similar intelligence at the time and how they expect to make sure it won't happen again?

 

In other words, was this press conference a pure PR operation or there was some kind of self-reflection or root case analysis, if you wish to call it that, involved?

 

They called "double-digit teams" and asked them if they were aware of the accusations and none of them were. 

 

They were genuine with their answers and stressed that they always just wanted to do the right thing and not rush to judgement or make emotional decisions.

 

In hindsight I'm not sure what they could've done differently. They're football guys - not investigators or journalists.