On Thursday, Colleen Shalby and Robert J. Lopez of the Los Angeles Times reported that Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza was one of three former and current San Diego State football players named in a lawsuit brought in San Diego County Superior Court. The lawsuit claims rape, false imprisonment and gender-violence crimes. An unidentified woman claims that Araiza, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko took turns having non-consensual sex with her as she went in and out of consciousness. The woman was a 17-year-old high-school senior at the time.
Bills punter Matt Araiza one of three named in San Diego State gang-rape lawsuit
After the lawsuit was made public, the Bills issued this statement:
From the Bills: “We were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021.
Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case, we will have no other comment at this point.”— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) August 25, 2022
Generally speaking, what the NFL decides are “thorough examinations” in cases like this are examinations that go about as far as the NFL wants them to. And in this case, per Tim Graham of The Athletic, it didn’t go much further.
A source with information about the situation told Graham that while the Bills were not aware of the alleged incident when they sleeted Araiza in the sixth round of the 2022 draft, they were aware when they cut punter Matt Haack last Monday, making Araiza the starter by default.
From Graham’s story:
The accuser’s attorney told The Athletic on Friday morning the Bills never reached out to him or his client after an initial conversation with the team’s counsel.
“Absolutely not,” attorney Dan Gilleon said. “Never heard from them again.”
After an introductory email to Bills assistant general counsel Kathryn D’Angelo on July 31, Gilleon said the next day he had “a long phone call” with D’Angelo but has had no further contact with the club.
The Bills have not responded to a request for comment.
The Bills play the Carolina Panthers at 7:00 p.m. EST tonight, at which point the team will undoubtedly be asked for comment more than once. Especially if Araiza actually takes the field.