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Matt Araiza


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2 hours ago, Neo said:

Well, he did take one NFL snap ….

 

 

 


This was in the preseason so competition was inferior. You can tell the football was not putting up any real resistance. 

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39 minutes ago, 90sBills said:


This was in the preseason so competition was inferior. You can tell the football was not putting up any real resistance. 

 

You’re right.   The ball could’ve sailed over the heads of much better football players.

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15 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/matt-araiza-appears-to-win-chiefs-punting-job

 

"Matt Araiza, the strong-legged punter whose career was derailed by a sexual assault accusation, appears poised to win the Chiefs’ punting job for the 2024 season.

The Chiefs cut punter Ryan Rehkow, which leaves Araiza as the only punter on their roster. It’s still possible that the Chiefs could bring in another punter to compete with Araiza, but it looks like Araiza is going to be the Chiefs’ punter when the regular season starts.

Araiza won the Bills’ punting job as a rookie in 2022, but when news surfaced that he had been accused in a lawsuit of gang rape while he was in college, the Bills cut him and he was out of the NFL for more than a year. Araiza was never criminally charged, and the accuser later dropped her lawsuit.

At San Diego State, Araiza was widely regarded as the best punter in college football, winning the Ray Guy Award and setting a new NCAA record by averaging 51.2 yards per punt. Araiza also handled kickoffs and field goals in college.

With the off-field issue that ended his tenure in Buffalo behind him, Araiza now has an opportunity to show what he can do in the NFL. If he’s as good as he was in college, he should be one of the best punters in football this season."


I’m glad he’s getting a second chance.  Everyone deserves a mulligan when they are wrongfully accused.  I was in total support of getting rid of him when I thought he was guilty.  

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6 hours ago, Doc said:

I'm saying that even if the NFL could have done something about it, they likely wouldn't have.  Not worth the bad publicity.

 

I understand fully what you're saying Doc.

 

I'm just lamenting that the NFL bows to the god of PR instead of justice (due process, innocent until proven guilty).

 

6 hours ago, Beck Water said:

My goodness, for a chap who led off with "Firstly I do not wish to debate on this" you sure are rolling along.

 

I've contributed what was said about it at the time, believe it or don't

 

For the sake of clarity and not argument, it's not that I don't believe or disagree with you.

 

It's that I believe that the NFL Personal Conduct Policy (in-and-of itself) is poorly-written and inconsistently applied.

 

 

6 hours ago, Rochesterfan said:

It was discussed at the time of the event - everything that happened was occurred before Matt became a part of the league and the NFL was not allowed to punish him for conduct prior to becoming an NFL player.  If he was convicted after becoming an NFL player they could enact punishment based on the findings, but the NFL was not able to put him on the restricted list for college issues.  This goes back to the Reggie Bush days when the league looked at punishing him and Pete Carroll for transgressions at USC and the NFLPA argued they could not punish them because they were not part of the NFL.
 

Therefore there were no options for the Bills in that regard based upon the reports.

 

Would the contract have been onerous- I don’t know, but as the Bills had no option to place him on any list what do you suggest they do. - should the Bills have kept him on the 53 man roster and not dressed him?  That was 1 option and can you imagine the distraction with questions every week that would cause.

 

The other option was to cut him - which based upon allowing him to focus on the trial and not being a distraction was the obvious choice.

 

I just do not understand what you wanted them to do.  The Bills were screwed with either choice because they could not trot him out to punt with the allegations hanging over him.  Keeping him on the 53 man roster and not playing him for nearly 2 years also was not an option as spots are precious and fans already complain about the fringe guys that the Bills cut (see every WR/RB cut after a decent preseason against 5th stringers).  Now imagine you are cutting an additional player to keep a punter that is not going to play - it just is not worth it. 
 

Unfortunately based upon the options available the Bills took the one that covered their butt the best, freed Matt to focus on what he needed to, and created the least questions, distractions, and problems for the team.  

 

I appreciate and understand your clear explanation... particularly citing the Reggie Bush case.

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

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Well hell he would still be here if the media an so called fans would had waited for his release..at the time news first broke out but naw ya mother ***** wanted to rush to judgment an was part of the reason for his release before an evidence came out ..ya mother ***** labeled  him guilty the buffalobills labeled him guilty how released him 

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20 hours ago, Gugny said:


Based on what?  He’s never taken an NFL snap. 

In a preseason game against the Colts, Araiza kicked from around the Bills 10-yard line, and the ball made it inside the end zone. (I was there) Araiza had won the kicking job with that single punt, and then, the worst happened.

(Officially an 82 yard punt, with a net of 62 yards)

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20 hours ago, Augie said:

Life can be tricky and unpredictable. Things happen and we make the best decisions we can in the moment. Nobody wins here, but I’m glad this young man is getting his shot, even if it’s with the Chiefs. I can’t fault the Bills organization for how they handled the situation. They had an entire team to get ready for a season. 

Always the voice of reason here ☝️

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7 minutes ago, BUFFALOBART said:

In a preseason game against the Colts, Araiza kicked from around the Bills 10-yard line, and the ball made it inside the end zone.

(Officially an 82 yard punt, with a net of 62 yards)

That was his one and only appearance is a game, a preseason game against 3rd string competiton.  Would a real team have corralled that kick before it rolled 30 yards?  Who knows.  In any case, despite what people would like to be believe, he had not yet won the job nor had he proved anything.  

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1 minute ago, FLFan said:

That was his one and only appearance is a game, a preseason game against 3rd string competiton.  Would a real team have corralled that kick before it rolled 30 yards?  Who knows.  In any case, despite what people would like to be believe, he had not yet won the job nor had he proved anything.  

It was an amazing kick. He kicked it from the 10, and it landed at the Colts 15, before rolling into the end zone.

The kick had a WTF? Wow! factor!

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1 hour ago, BUFFALOBART said:

In a preseason game against the Colts, Araiza kicked from around the Bills 10-yard line, and the ball made it inside the end zone. (I was there) Araiza had won the kicking job with that single punt, and then, the worst happened.

(Officially an 82 yard punt, with a net of 62 yards)


Remember how awesome Trent Edwards was in preseason?  
 

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11 hours ago, Billl said:

Those dots you’re trying to connect are incredibly far apart given the seriousness of the accusation you’re suggesting.  You’re saying that the front office drafted someone who they knew was accused of SA, and you base this on the fact that he was the third punter drafted instead of the first or second?

No.

I didn't say they knew, I said there were concerns. Nobody knew the validity of the accusation before it was actually presented. What i said was there was enough concern to where 2 punter needy teams decided to skip the "Punt God" and draft lesser prospects. 

 

It's kinda the equivalent of a QB needy team deciding to draft Daniel Jones and Trey Lance when Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen were available 🤔 

 

If you want to assume the Bills front office had no knowledge of the SA accusation before the draft I guess it's possible. 

 

Personally,  I don't think so. JMHO..

 

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We’re on page six of “our biggest rival signed an intriguing young talent vs. he’s never proved a thing by becoming a Super Bowl MVP in real games.” back and forth.  There are two hundred young men annually brought into NFL camps who’ve never taken an NFL snap.   I’m paying attention to the talent and the situation.  For giggles,  I imagine a team assembling its draft board with one person saying “he’s never taken a snap or proved a thing in this league” every time a name is mentioned.

 

Short cut.   No one here has claimed he’s proved a thing.   No one has to claim he’s proved a thing to have an interesting comment.   Our biggest rival signed the biggest new talent at one of our biggest positions of need going into the 2024 season.

Edited by Neo
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1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

He’s arguably the greatest punting talent in history. I was pumped when the Bills took him. He is going to be a star. I don’t begrudge the Bills for releasing him with the information that they had.

 

wow--after 1 season as a college Punter, he's "arguably" the best Punting talent.....ever?  lol

 

this puts a bow on the irrational fixation that too many here have for a Punter prospect.  

 

will he have to stay 500 feet away from the schools in KC?

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1 hour ago, Gugny said:


Remember how awesome Trent Edwards was in preseason?  
 

 

Not even as awesome as Nate Peterman!

 

I am familiar with the offseason championship--is there a Pre Season HOF?

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2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

He’s arguably the greatest punting talent in history. I was pumped when the Bills took him. He is going to be a star. I don’t begrudge the Bills for releasing him with the information that they had.

 

I mean, what are you basing that on?

 

He's a boomer, for sure. How are his directional punts?  How is he when it comes to pinning teams inside the 20?

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