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

1 hour ago, Matt_In_NH said:

Not every team does a full deep dive on every player.  In this case beane says he has talked to double digit teams and no one said they knew.  I do think it is possible this was out locally at SDS and could have been known.   But even then you only would have had rumors.  He was worth a 6th round pick.  I am diss appointed we don’t get to see what he could have become but they did the right thing.  

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2022/8/27/23324566/some-teams-knew-of-matt-araiza-gang-rape-allegations-before-2022-nfl-draft

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

11 hours ago, Cray51 said:

Reporters were annoying the entire press conference.  Constantly trying to get Beane or McD to say something negative about Matt or the accuser.

 

The Bills judged these items to be accusations, they had not reached the point of charges, they did just as much review as any other team in the league, they talked to Matt about this, and they made the decision to move forward.  Does that make them perfect? No.  But reporters almost complaining that they didnt reach out to the accuser when there weren't charges is a joke.  Media looking for a story instead of reporting the one in front of them.

 

Beane sounded genuine to both Matt and the accuser.  It screamed to me "We told Matt if he is truly innocent, go figure this crap out and we will follow the results of the case accordingly".

 

Fair play to the Bills for handling this with class and precision.

I'm with you pretty much all the way, but the words "thorough investigation" were a mistake relative to all of this. If you claim to conduct a thorough investigation of a crime you don't skip talking to the person alleging the crime. That phrase was disingenuous at the very least and dishonest at worst. 

[Bills show what a class organization they are]

10 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

That’s why i don’t understand how people are faulting the bills for not calling back the victim’s lawyer as part of the investigation.
 

 There was no purpose for him to contact the team except to somehow get the team involved in paying to settle the case. The Bills lawyers had to be concerned about any additional communications with him. 

This probably gets too deep into the nature of corporations and how they behave, but just look at this from a criminal perspective: would you ever conduct a "thorough investigation" of an alleged crime without talking to the alleged victim? I mean, the answer is completely and utterly NO, but in the context of being a corporation that just needs to not look like monsters in the press, I suppose they did the bare minimum that would have avoided additional skewering in the national press. But yeah, if you want to know what happened in a crime you might do well to talk to the people who alleged the crime. 

[Bills show what a class organization they are]

9 hours ago, HamSandwhich said:

Even if what you’re asserting is true. What did they actually say? He admits to having sex with her but does he know she’s underage? Is she someone who would lie about her age? Do you think people need to card everyone they have sex with? It’s not that cut and dry and you know that. 
 

Also, you’re never presumed guilty and then have to prove innocence in the court of law. It’s always the accuser that carry’s the weight of proving guilt. 

What you are pointing out just doesn't matter in the law. It is illegal, period, to have sex with someone under 18 in this instance, regardless of whether you knew the age of the minor. So yes, you're right...presume innocence, always. But it appears that in this case he admitted to statutory, and that's that. What else do we need to know when we have an audio admission of a crime? 

[Bills show what a class organization they are]

10 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

100%.  Class act all the way.  Not just today, but even not rushing to judgement on Matt and trying to find out facts recognizing this was an accusation prior to this.  

 

I completely applaud everything they have done in the handling of this.  Even how McD handled the post game PC refusing to talk football and only talk about this because this is bigger than a game.  

 

Beane and McD handling of the press conference too was all class act despite some sleezy attempts by reporters to force narratives to try and paint a bad picture for click bait headlines.  

 

Proud this is the team I am a massive fan of.  

Not even close, lol...read the D&C. The Bills need to take accountability for a culture that allowed an alleged rapist to stay on the team for four weeks while they cut their other option. Their "thorough" investigation was not thorough, and they appear to have gambled that this would blow over by the time they made their decision. Gilleon's criticisms of the organization need to be taken seriously. This is not how you handle a rape allegation against an employee. 

10 hours ago, BigDingus said:

I mostly agree, but I'd still pump the breaks just a tiny bit, as we can't confirm for sure what they knew before even drafting him, or how much they knew the past couple months.

 

Some reports suggest other teams were aware of certain things about this case pre-draft (hence the best punting prospect in ages being the 3rd off the board), and others say the Bills were made aware of aspects as early as June.

 

I really don't know, but I'd just caution heaping too much praise right away. Still, they do deserve credit for moving on this quickly, and that is something I 100% support.

Dunno if four weeks (July 31 to now) would be considered quick in the context of a rape allegation, particularly since they appear to have known (or should have known) that he admitted to having sex with her on his phone call, at least according to the D&C. If that report was out there and the Bills knew that the admission had been made, they knowingly contracted a guy who had admitted to statutory rape.