Matt Araiza

[teef]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

Yup.  Protect your bubble.  That’s all we have atm.  
 

Maybe if a flock of the biggest social media influencers got together and started a movement, it could have an impact and start the ball rolling.  It’s crazy how many people live 90% of their awake lives on social media.  That’s where the change needs to begin imo

i honestly consider myself lucky that i never really jumped into social media.  I may use it to a minor extent,  but not close to daily.  there's a ton of mob mentality, misinformation, peer pressure.  it's tough.  i'm sure there's a lot of good that can come from it, but we tend to hear far more towards the bad.  i worry about my kids and how this evolves, so i'm just going to try to deal with this on a local level.  who knows how AI is going to change this landscape as well.  it's going to be the wild west of tech.

[nedboy7]

How long does it take to prove you weren’t even at the house.  Seems like that could have been determined quickly? 

[Motorin']

5 minutes ago, SCBills said:

As the person who linked the article and believes Araiza was done so dirty, by so many people, I’m genuinely wondering what people think the Bills should’ve done…

 

Im pretty convinced Beane believed Araiza.  His words were carefully chosen, his vibe was certainly one of completely frustration and sadness. 
 

The Bills literally cut their other punter and gave Arazia the job, after they were aware of the allegations (I’m pretty sure this is correct?.. correct me if I’m wrong)

 

But put yourself back to Aug of ‘22. 

Local media with daily hit pieces against the Bills FO.  National media with daily hit pieces against the Bills FO.  Bills influencers absolutely torching the organization and/or demanding his release. 
 

It’s now May of ‘23 and we finally have some clarity that exonerates Araiza. 
 

How do y’all think the Bills could’ve functioned with the mob ready to burn OBD down?   Do you really think Goodell was going to allow Beane to hold the NFL hostage with certain social justice groups over a rookie punter?  Already dealing with the Watson fallout. 
 

I genuinely, as someone who has contempt for all those who vilified him without knowing the facts, have no idea what else the Bills could have done. 
 

 

The Bills did the right thing, because he admitted to having sex with a minor. 

 

They couldn't keep him on the team while being investigated for rape and an ongoing civil suit. 

 

I think it's in Matt's best interest to come out and say he made mistakes, but he never met to hurt anyone. He hopes this girl gets whatever helps she needs because she seems like she needs a lot of help... That he should never have put himself, his family and his teammates in this position.  But ultimately he has been proved innocent of the terrible accusation of rape, and that no one should hold that label over him because that's not who he is. 

 

He needs to own his part, say sorry for his part and his part only. If he comes out half as vindictive as some on the board as hoping he's going to hurt his chances for a second chance in the NFL.  

 

 

[teef]

18 minutes ago, SCBills said:

As the person who linked the article and believes Araiza was done so dirty, by so many people, I’m genuinely wondering what people think the Bills should’ve done…

 

Im pretty convinced Beane believed Araiza.  His words were carefully chosen, his vibe was certainly one of completely frustration and sadness. 
 

The Bills literally cut their other punter and gave Arazia the job, after they were aware of the allegations (I’m pretty sure this is correct?.. correct me if I’m wrong)

 

But put yourself back to Aug of ‘22. 

Local media with daily hit pieces against the Bills FO.  National media with daily hit pieces against the Bills FO.  Bills influencers absolutely torching the organization and/or demanding his release. 
 

It’s now May of ‘23 and we finally have some clarity that exonerates Araiza. 
 

How do y’all think the Bills could’ve functioned with the mob ready to burn OBD down?   Do you really think Goodell was going to allow Beane to hold the NFL hostage with certain social justice groups over a rookie punter?  Already dealing with the Watson fallout. 
 

I genuinely, as someone who has contempt for all those who vilified him without knowing the facts, have no idea what else the Bills could have done. 
 

i agree with this as well.  when you run a business, you have to rid yourself of anything bad for business, and let's face it, the nfl and the bills sure are a business.  it's not necessarily right, but i don't think that's anything that's going to change soon.  at the end of the day, matt was wildly unlucky to even run into that girl.  it sucks.

Edited May 9, 2023 by teef

[Tommy Callahan]

The current thing mob went after him before any facts or due process.  Since then they have moved onto new things to be outraged about. 

[Bruffalo]

You can't blame the Bills for dropping him when they did. I believed that it was the right move then and I still do.

 

Obviously this is a borked up situation, and I feel for him.  

[NewEra]

36 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

As a fan I find it difficult to root for someone under investigation for rape.

 

I’m just being honest. I wish I never heard anything about the case.

 

 

I agree.  
 

Then, on the other hand, I find it difficult to be ok with potentially ruining an innocent man’s life because he was falsely accused.  This kid busted his butt the majority of his life to become one of the less than .1% to make himself a home among the elite in the NFL.  Only to be banished (hopefully only for that one year) based on a false accusation.  
 

I’m at fault too.  I called him Rape God on this forum. I’m ashamed of that moment of weakness and I hope that I’ve learned my lesson.   
 

 

[78thealltimegreat]

20 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

People like yourself?

 

Who are those types of people?  Do you mean those who don’t look at anything as truth because a person calls it truth?  For the record I didn’t believe or disbelieve the woman, her lawyer, Araiza, or his lawyer about the underlying facts at any point in all of this. I did realize that  both lawyers displayed themselves as complete morons.  You can check back on my posts if you’d like.  
 

Anyone who thought they could determine truth by the limited data available in the press, much of which had been proven false even back then, has a flaw in their definition of fact versus opinion/guess.  I had a guess…..still do….but choose not to state it because I realize it is a guess.  
 

At no point then or now do I portray our current societal trends as fair.  I do realize however that they exist and simply wishing they would go away is childish.  
 

The Bills organization was in an impossible position in many ways because they had to think of not just Araiza the punter, but also Araiza the person.  Their decision definitely harmed Araiza the punter but I strongly believed it was 1000000000000% the right one for Araiza the person.

Like I said he’ll never get his reputation back with a portion of society as the last line alone says you’ve determined him to be a terrible person for simply going to a college party. 

[dpberr]

I'd sue her and her attorney until I ran out of lawyers to do the paperwork. I'd also go after any organization that I had evidence they pressured the Bills to cut him, simply to make them spend time and money.  Her attorney stoked a very public fire about this case, and that shouldn't be without consequence.

 

I don't fault the Bills for releasing him because he was needing to devote most of his time to the case, and as a rookie, you need to be in team meetings and practices 100% of the time.   Availability is your #1 job skill.

[78thealltimegreat]

5 minutes ago, NewEra said:

I agree.  
 

Then, on the other hand, I find it difficult to be ok with potentially ruining an innocent man’s life because he was falsely accused.  This kid busted his butt the majority of his life to become one of the less than .1% to make himself a home among the elite in the NFL.  Only to be banished (hopefully only for that one year) based on a false accusation.  
 

I’m at fault too.  I called him Rape God on this forum. I’m ashamed of that moment of weakness and I hope that I’ve learned my lesson.   
 

 

Imagine being that kid when you literally weren’t even there being labeled for the rest of your life by complete strangers as a rapist. 

[4merper4mer]

7 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

Like I said he’ll never get his reputation back with a portion of society as the last line alone says you’ve determined him to be a terrible person for simply going to a college party. 

Apparently you can’t read.

[78thealltimegreat]

Just now, 4merper4mer said:

Apparently you can’t read.

The last line says I can

[Milanos Milano]

25 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

The Bills did the right thing, because he admitted to having sex with a minor. 

 

They couldn't keep him on the team while being investigated for rape and an ongoing civil suit. 

 

I think it's in Matt's best interest to come out and say he made mistakes, but he never met to hurt anyone. He hopes this girl gets whatever helps she needs because she seems like she needs a lot of help... That he should never have put himself, his family and his teammates in this position.  But ultimately he has been proved innocent of the terrible accusation of rape, and that no one should hold that label over him because that's not who he is. 

 

He needs to own his part, say sorry for his part and his part only. If he comes out half as vindictive as some on the board as hoping he's going to hurt his chances for a second chance in the NFL.  

 

 

Why are we continuing with this garbage? The women was proclaiming to NOT being a minor and saying she was 18. In California where this happened, isn’t a crime. Get over it. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by IronMaidenBills

[NewEra]

5 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

Imagine being that kid when you literally weren’t even there being labeled for the rest of your life by complete strangers as a rapist. 

[aristocrat]

For anyone thinking we should sign him look at what happened to Mante Teo. That guy was a stud player before and after his head got screwed with he was never the same. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

30 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

How long does it take to prove you weren’t even at the house.  Seems like that could have been determined quickly? 

Probably takes awhile to corroborate that with multiple witness accounts…he would’ve needed some rock solid alibi to prove what time he left and arrived somewhere else quickly without relying on witnesses.  
 

[Alphadawg7]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

I agree.  
 

Then, on the other hand, I find it difficult to be ok with potentially ruining an innocent man’s life because he was falsely accused.  This kid busted his butt the majority of his life to become one of the less than .1% to make himself a home among the elite in the NFL.  Only to be banished (hopefully only for that one year) based on a false accusation.  
 

I’m at fault too.  I called him Rape God on this forum. I’m ashamed of that moment of weakness and I hope that I’ve learned my lesson.   
 

 

 

I want to acknowledge you owning up to that mistake, sincere kudos sir.  I also want to acknowledge a certain poster, who I have never named here when discussing this, that reached out to me last night with a sincere apology for his behavior towards me and others who weren't ready to condemn the kid without the details and facts first during this original time of when this came out.  This was when he escalated it to him sending me a DM to fight in the lot at the next Bills game.  He owned up to all that, explained he was dealing with a lot in his life at the time and that the story hit home for him and he overreacted and that it was not a representation of who he is or the kind of energy he wants to put out there.  

 

So major kudos for those who have taken the time to recognize there was an opportunity to handle or react to things better when this story first broke.  Not everyone is mature enough to do that, and everyone who does has my absolute respect.  Even told the person who DM'd me that all is forgotten and forgiven and hope to buy him a beer next time I am able to make a Bills home game.  

[Motorin']

2 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Why are we continuing with this garbage? The women was proclaiming to NOT being a minor and saying she was 18. In California where this happened, isn’t a crime. Get over it. 

 

You're coming from the perspective of a defense attorney. Not a billion dollar community organization with a morality clause. 

[Simon]

1 minute ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Even told the person who DM'd me that all is forgotten and forgiven and hope to buy him a beer next time I am able to make a Bills home game.  

 

I was just conning you into showing up. I'm still going to kick your ass.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

9 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Why are we continuing with this garbage? The women was proclaiming to NOT being a minor and saying she was 18. In California where this happened, isn’t a crime. Get over it. 

I really don’t understand it either.  Like yea I can see not being vindictive because he could’ve avoided the situation but what does he really have to apologize for?  
 

Someone a year underage snuck into his party and lied about her age…California would never even bring that to trial.