Bills show what a class organization they are

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

5 minutes ago, uninja said:

Pretty sure it’s just like any business sector. No one’s going to outwardly share but it’s a small world and I bet a lot of industry people know each other. If you have friends in the right places you can get some intel off the record. 

 

Agree like I can see Buffalo, Washington, Carolina, and Giants sharing and a connection between all 4.  Though the Mikissic deal may have soured the Washington connection.

[BillsFan4]

I agree. I can understand where the Bills were coming from with this and I think, for the most part, they handled it ok. Did they handle it perfectly? Maybe not, but it’s hard to say without knowing more details. I’d say they handled it about as best they could. And Beane + McDermott have built up enough goodwill with me. I know how important character is to them. This is NOT even remotely close to the Browns situation, where they traded for a guy knowing he was facing 24 civil lawsuits.
 

The Bills didn’t know about any of this before he was drafted. They’ve only known about it for less than a month. And in the time between the draft and a month ago they had gotten to know Araiza, as did the players on the team and by all accounts he was well liked.

 

Then about a month ago they learned that Araiza could be facing a civil suit some time in the future and learned of the highlights of the claim which they then started investigating for themselves. Araiza and his reps told one story, the accusers lawyer obviously told another. They tried to verify for themselves. They didn’t want to just dump Araiza before trying to learn more.

 

But then a very public suit was filed and that obviously changed things. I don’t know how widely this was shared among the rest of the team before the suit was filed. I’m assuming Beane and McDermott probably kept it relatively private.

 

So this went from a (most likely) relatively private matter to every Bills player, coach, wife, girlfriend, etc. as well as the team owners and bills fans all knowing every detail of the accusation. 

 

I can understand why they were initially willing to let things play out more.

How would it have looked if they cut Araiza back at the beginning of august without even bothering to fact check, despite him claiming he was innocent? Especially when he was outperforming Haack. But I also understand why they were no longer willing to let things play out and I think that was the right call. This seems to have had an effect on the team as evidenced by their performance against Carolina.

I also think they were being honest when they said this is what’s best for Araiza. Imagine having to face the press and the fans with all of this going on. This is a very serious matter. It needs to be handled before his NFL career can continue (and maybe it won’t…). 

[Billsfan1972]

Good thing he's a punter and not a starter at any other position or this would have gone on and on.

 

Bills did absolutely the right thing in ensuring this was not going to be a distraction.  

 

Apologies if answered elsewhere, but I wonder why they didn't just suspend him (and bar him from the facilities) or put him on an inactive list, until this plays out.  Unless of course the information they now have is so damning they had to cut/release him.

 

[Alphadawg7]

3 hours ago, Mango said:

 

 

I literally said outside of the Browns and maybe Andy Reid. 
 

Almost every one of the 30 other orgs in the NFL let this play out until it becomes a media schyte storm. Then cuts Araiza. They had two press conferences. Your bar for excellence is quite low. 
 

Comparatively the Bills found out about this. Sat in their hands. Then cut the guy once it spun out of control. 
 

It’s what most NFL teams do. I don’t find their handling of this anything other than average when compared to a majority of their peers. 

 

They had 2 press conferences within 24 hours of each other in which he was cut in between.  Geezus man, what did you expect an 10 hour telethon to discuss it?  He was on the team less than 36 hours after the civil suit was filed.  You are being way overly dramatic here.  

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

2 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

No idea??  Do teams commonly share?  If some team finds out a player has some medical issue, would they share that, or keep it to themselves and let another team draft damaged goods?  If it were Al Davis, I'd think the answer would be no!

 

I really have no idea how much and of what type/criteria of pre-draft info would be shared amongst teams? On one hand the less other teams know the better, but the Araiza situation does as Roger would say "Damage the shield"  From that standpoint, you'd think they would alert others, but I don't know.

I am not sure either…I would like to think there is a difference between gaining a competitive advantage vs. the overall common good.

 

[oldmanfan]

1 hour ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Good thing he's a punter and not a starter at any other position or this would have gone on and on.

 

Bills did absolutely the right thing in ensuring this was not going to be a distraction.  

 

Apologies if answered elsewhere, but I wonder why they didn't just suspend him (and bar him from the facilities) or put him on an inactive list, until this plays out.  Unless of course the information they now have is so damning they had to cut/release him.

 

I asked the same question.  Apparently he can’t be suspended because the incident occurred before he was in the league, or something like that.

[UKBillFan]

2 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I asked the same question.  Apparently he can’t be suspended because the incident occurred before he was in the league, or something like that.

He couldn’t be put on the exempt list for that reason. Think I’m right in saying he couldn’t be suspended or put on administrative leave because we do not have a good enough reason to do it - he has not yet been found guilty of anything.

[oldmanfan]

5 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

He couldn’t be put on the exempt list for that reason. Think I’m right in saying he couldn’t be suspended or put on administrative leave because we do not have a good enough reason to do it - he has not yet been found guilty of anything.

Thanks for the clarification

[Mikie2times]

Ya, I'm not ball washing the Bills on this one nor will I break out my pitch fork. This was one of the best punting prospects in NFL history. He had a full write up in SI if teams should ponder going with a #1 to land his elite skills. He ended up being the 3rd punter off the board. Somebody needs to better explain how he ends up being the 3rd punter drafted and it not be a result of teams having awareness of this. Perhaps the Bills truly didn't, perhaps they heard some rumblings and felt it was BS. Anyway you slice it, it felt too good to be true from the start and this isn't the first time I'm saying this. I said it about 5 times now since the draft, just how on earth was he still on the board? This will be my only post on this subject. Onto the regular season. 

Edited August 29, 2022 by KzooMike

[UKBillFan]

3 minutes ago, KzooMike said:

Ya, I'm not ball washing the Bills on this one nor will I break out my pitch fork. This was one of the best punting prospects in NFL history. He had a full write up in SI if teams should ponder going with a #1 to land his elite skills. He ended up being the 3rd punter off the board. Somebody needs to better explain how he ends up being the 3rd punter drafted and it not be a result of teams having awareness of this. Perhaps the Bills truly didn't, perhaps they heard some rumblings and felt it was BS. Anyway you slice it, it felt too good to be true from the start and this isn't the first time I'm saying this. I said it about 5 times now since the draft, just how on earth was he still on the board? This will be my only post on this subject. Onto the regular season. 

Feel like I’m stuck on repeat - most mock drafts had him at third or fourth punter due to questions about his holding ability and hang time. He went where he was expected to.

[mannc]

6 hours ago, K-9 said:

I don’t know how many times I’ve addressed the issue and linked the legal info, but California law allows defendants to prove they had a reasonable and actual reason to believe the victim was 18 or over at the time. It’s not cut and dried at all that Araiza admitted to felony statutory rape.

And we don’t know if he actually admitted anything…Gilleon says he admitted having sex with her…no tape or transcript has been released.

[RunTheBall]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

They had 2 press conferences within 24 hours of each other in which he was cut in between.  Geezus man, what did you expect an 10 hour telethon to discuss it?  He was on the team less than 36 hours after the civil suit was filed.  You are being way overly dramatic here.  

He clearly has an axe to grind with McBeane.

 

If they dragged Araiza out onto the field and shot him during the press conference, this guy would complain they didn’t draw and quarter him.

[Canadian Bills Fan]

My notebook is full of "I love Brandon Beane" doodles 

[Mikie2times]

21 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Feel like I’m stuck on repeat - most mock drafts had him at third or fourth punter due to questions about his holding ability and hang time. He went where he was expected to.

Interesting, maybe your definition of "most mock drafts" is based on ? So people are like ?

 

This is all mock drafts and the average grade: https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/

 

Araiza= Round 3 / 100th

Stout= Round 6 / 216th

Camarda= Undrafted

 

Also did you know Araiza is an actual football player? Like in high school? He loves the game of football. He's an athlete. So you're saying teams were going to pass on one of the best punting prospects in NFL history because he wasn't a holder before? Despite showing every inclination he had the skills to do it. Oh ya, he could also be your back up kicker. Which most punters can't. 

Edited August 29, 2022 by KzooMike

[UKBillFan]

27 minutes ago, KzooMike said:

Interesting, maybe your definition of "most mock drafts" is based on ? So people are like ?

 

This is all mock drafts and the average grade: https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/

 

Araiza= Round 3 / 100th

Stout= Round 6 / 216th

Camarda= Undrafted

 

 

Mel Kiper was one; he had Stout and Camarda ahead of Araiza. This breaks down more of the issues franchises had with him - hang time, yards per return, touchbacks and, of course, holding.

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/nfl/news/nfl-draft-matt-araiza-punt-god-bills/dgmyhjvtoiyxcwqqkdaajiez

 

John Wawrow found two franchises out of five who knew about an incident at San Diego but didn’t know the details. Beane said in the press conference he’d spoke to double figure franchises, none of whom were aware.

Edited August 29, 2022 by UKBillFan
Touchbacks rather than repeating hang time

[ganesh]

6 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

College age people, including student athletes often make impulsive decisions. Especially at parties. She probably appeared to be another college student and that was that. It’s not like seeing the visible difference between a teen and a 35 year old. The vast majority of college folk must be idiots in your view. 

He said "An NFL bound player should have understood such risks and held himself accountable better".   He shouldn't have been Yet Another College Idiot !

[Mikie2times]

39 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Mel Kiper was one; he had Stout and Camarda ahead of Araiza. This breaks down more of the issues franchises had with him - hang time, yards per return, touchbacks and, of course, holding.

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/nfl/news/nfl-draft-matt-araiza-punt-god-bills/dgmyhjvtoiyxcwqqkdaajiez

 

John Wawrow found two franchises out of five who knew about an incident at San Diego but didn’t know the details. Beane said in the press conference he’d spoke to double figure franchises, none of whom were aware.

I will concede it’s a stretch to label his draft drop as a result of this. I will also say it’s a stretch that everybody knew or that even the Bills knew. I will also say this thread, congratulating how the Bills handled this, is also stretchy. We just don’t know enough. This thread should have never been created. 

[HappyDays]

17 hours ago, CSBill said:

Bills fans, don't think for a minute the national media and public's general response to this is going to commend the Bills for how well they handled it. In their eyes, the Bills and the Browns are now the same thing. Get use to it.

 

This is 100% false. Only local members of the media have been trying to criticize the Bills' process, and that criticism has gained no national traction. All of the national reporters I've seen are giving us credit for making the right decision quickly, and have specifically mentioned how much better we handled the situation than the Browns handled theirs. Now that Araiza is off the team the story is gone from the national media's radar. We will quietly sign a competent punter and head into the season with the controversy put to bed.

[StHustle]

9 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

This is 100% false. Only local members of the media have been trying to criticize the Bills' process, and that criticism has gained no national traction. All of the national reporters I've seen are giving us credit for making the right decision quickly, and have specifically mentioned how much better we handled the situation than the Browns handled theirs. Now that Araiza is off the team the story is gone from the national media's radar. We will quietly sign a competent punter and head into the season with the controversy put to bed.

don’t think the signing will be quiet tho. Araiza’s name will be connected with the new punter for a bit since he really only got the job cause of rape allegations.

[HappyDays]

6 minutes ago, StHustle said:

don’t think the signing will be quiet tho. Araiza’s name will be connected with the new punter for a bit since he really only got the job cause of rape allegations.

 

The first time the new punter takes the field the commentator will briefly mention that he was recently signed to replace Araiza, and then it will never be mentioned again. Occasionally the media will report updates as the civil suit progresses but the Bills' involvement with the story is now over.