Matt Araiza accused of rape, served with a lawsuit.

[YoloinOhio]

Araiza attorney said the Bills used a private investigator 

[McDeerInTheHeadlights]

Just now, Bills2022 said:

The Bills are too good for a punter to be the news.  What is a good punter worth anyway on a team that moves the ball.  A guy who is a directional punter is a better fit than a strong legged punter for our offense.

 

A 6th round pick?

[Alphadawg7]

Just now, PromoTheRobot said:

 

The worst reason to do anything. 

 

I agree...its sadly the world we live in today with social media and the internet 

[transient]

2 minutes ago, stevestojan said:

Total side note: has to be a pretty big ego hit for Haack when he found out the Bills have known about this for weeks, and still chose Araiza. 

If it takes him as long to process things as it does to get a punt off the reality of this should hit him by mid-next week sometime.

[Simon]

4 minutes ago, MClem06 said:

👀 jokes man, jokes. No one believed me , 80 yard punt from a place kicker? cmon man.

I've seen that sumbitch kick 60+ yarders with one step. I have no idea what that leg is capable of.

[SectionC3]

23 minutes ago, gobills404 said:

Coming from the guy that thinks it’s professional to interact with pornstars online while representing yourself and your work. Your credibility is long gone my guy.

I’m not your guy.  One more time: what’s your profession? 

[YoloinOhio]

Crossover from the pregame thread: Micah Hyde is holding and Bass is punting 

[iccrewman112]

Any thoughts on the bills needing him to punt tonight because they have no one else on and need to evaluate a bunch of guys on special teams? 
 

then release him the next day?

[Bills2022]

2 minutes ago, McDeerInTheHeadlights said:

 

A 6th round pick?

 

Who cares where he was picked. A mediocre directional punter will fit the Bills just fine. We don't need some deep punter. We won't be punting from deep on our side of the field too often.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Bills2022

[YoloinOhio]

Just now, iccrewman112 said:

Any thoughts on the bills needing him to punt tonight because they have no one else on and need to evaluate a bunch of guys on special teams? 
 

then release him the next day?

He’s not playing or dressing  tonight 

[stevestojan]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

Crossover from the pregame thread: Micah Hyde is holding and Bass is punting 

Please watch Hyde’s finger, Bass. 

[SectionC3]

Just now, iccrewman112 said:

Any thoughts on the bills needing him to punt tonight because they have no one else on and need to evaluate a bunch of guys on special teams? 
 

then release him the next day?

Looks like bass is going to handle it.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

Crossover from the pregame thread: Micah Hyde is holding and Bass is punting 

I would actually try this. Gain a roster spot.

 

[fridge]

There are two separate things at play here:

 

1. How the Buffalo Bills, a football team, should handle this

2. The legal implications (both criminal and civil) that Matt, the person, faces.

 

#1 should be easy. Cut him. Will there be a wrongful termination lawsuit if he's innocent? Sure. Cost of doing business for a billionaire with a football team. A punter's potential lifetime salary that they would be suing for isn't going to cripple the organization.

 

#2 is more complicated.  So far the lawyers have done a horrible job discussing the case with the media. It also is completely irrelevant to how the team should handle this. If you believe that the kid deserves his day in court, you can still accept that the team should release him to avoid the problems.

[mannc]

8 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Seriously? You expect the Bills to get in the middle of this?? Wow, I'm glad you aren't in charge of team PR. This is a s###show. There is nothing to be gained by descending into the pit. Don't be influenced to act by the hair-on-fire takes on Twitter. 

That's fair...right now, the Bills don't look too good, having acknowledged that they cut the other punter while being aware of this issue.  It's possible that keeping their head down is the best thing to do.  That's not the case for Team Araiza...the other side is already winning.  

[1ManRaid]

18 minutes ago, Tanoros said:

Quite frankly, neither you or I know who commuted those acts against that girl. It’s very possible she doesn’t even know. Due process is of the utmost importance at times like these, clearly that’s how the Bills organization feels too. We all know they are run very well, and look how they are handling this situation, they are exercising due process just as they should be. It’s really quite simple.
 

Also, just because not everyone is treated the same in the world, is not an excuse to treat others differently. We need to be that which we wish to experience, otherwise things inevitably turn to anarchy.  

 

Knowingly pushing for punishments for rape against a potentially innocent man cheapens the experiences of women who were actually raped by those they accused.  Blindly screaming with the emotional mob does NOTHING to help actual rape victims (even if she was raped, and she probably was, that's not the point), and actually does more harm than good.  You also CAN'T reinforce the notion that all you have to do is make a claim to have your enemies harmed, this is a literal cornerstone of the legal system and society as a whole.

[djp14150]

7 minutes ago, Dr.Mantis_Toboggan said:

1-Due process fails sexual assault victims on a regular basis, hence why so many are found not guilty in criminal court but then liable in a civil suit.

 

2- clearly you’re not staying as up to date on the details as you should be, ie pictures of the victim that have been released… 

 

3- once again, see one, most rapists never serve a day in prison for their crime.

 

4- so which virtue do I hold true? Defending those who are almost always skewered as having “ulterior motives”, when that’s almost always not the case?  I.e. Ben & Kobe off the top of my head. Any time a high profile case hits the wires, everybody starts screaming “cash grab”, people drag the victims through the mud only to find out these individuals settled out of court. As if this mentality in public has no effect on other women coming forward. Oh and why do I focus on women, bc 9/10 rape victims are women… is that good enough for you? The victims skew super heavily to the female population. 1/3 women is victim of some form of sexual assault in their lives, that number is just unacceptable and attitudes like yours do nothing to help drive that number the opposite direction.

 

5- once again, rape victims are women an overwhelming majority of the time. These are hard facts.  Sick of hearing let the courts sort it out. So what happens if there is no criminal conviction but he’s found liable in a civil suit, as so often is the case with these matters, or he settles out of court?  Then we just look the other way.  I myself don’t want the Mike Vick, Adrian Peterson, Tyreek Hills of the world on my team, why would I want this piece of garbage representing Buffalo in any way shape or form?

 

6- The NFL is a privilege, not a right. Araiza knowingly withheld this information from the Bills in the pre draft process. That alone is grounds to cut him, as this is the last thing a team with it’s eye on the Super Bowl needs less than two weeks fro, the start of the regular season.

 

I’m just applying what I know combined with statistics.

 

He admitted he had sex with a minor, at a party with alcohol

He contacted her to tell her she should get tested for STDs

Her idiot lawyer released pictures showing her bruising/physical trauma

He withheld this information in the pre draft process

Only 2-10%, with the number being believed to be around 6-8% of accusations are false.

That means over 90% of rape accusations are in fact true.

Given the information we do know, combined with the numbers supporting accusers, and him withholding information, I don’t get how he deserves to keep his roster spot.

 

 

 

 

nobody has ever used your cell phone to talk to someone?  How do you know it was him on the phone?

If police or lawyers were involved in a known illegal act of recording a phone call they should be fired/ disbarred

are you saying everything people say must be true 

he coukd have mentioned and because he knew of people who tested positive for it.

false accusations are much much higher than that…especially if you include unreported incidents.

 

um 90% is not beyond a reasonable doubt

 

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, Alphadawg7 said:

 

I agree...its sadly the world we live in today with social media and the internet 

 

The thing with public pressure is it goes away quickly. People get bored and move on. The weight of public opinion landed on the Browns over Watson, they stuck to their guns and then what? Bupkis.

[17islongenough]

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

He’s not playing or dressing  tonight 

He should probably be dressed given his circumstances 

[Billsflyer12]

6 minutes ago, djp14150 said:

How is it any different? 
 

youwant someone fired because he’s being accused of something without knowing if this is even true

If you don’t know the difference between being fired and lynching then I have little hope for you.

[YoloinOhio]

We now also have Barkley punting and Keenum holding 

[OrangeBills]

7 hours ago, Mango said:

What are not the facts? Was she not bruised and bleeding. Did she not go to the hospital? 
 

 

You said 3-5 people.  It's supposedly 2-3 people.  I was just playing your game of "facts".

 

 

[Beck Water]

12 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I think they already cut him based on this.

 

 

 

It's possible.

 

Apparently there may be quite the campaign of season ticket holders weighing in:

 

 

18 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

They cut him …but he still traveled to the game with the team

 

Right

 

I mean, this broke right about the time they were probably at the airport, right? 

 

So the Bills were "behind the curve", they had to decide

-if there was new information beyond what they already knew about

-if that new information materially affected the team's decision about Araiza

-what was the public impact on the team (PR, ticket sales)

-what was the viewpoint of the owners Kim and Terry Pegula?

-any input or guidance from the league

 

It's not a surprise that he might travel with the team to the game, and then have whatever next steps they want to take get sorted.

[SoMAn]

3 minutes ago, iccrewman112 said:

Any thoughts on the bills needing him to punt tonight because they have no one else on and need to evaluate a bunch of guys on special teams? 
 

then release him the next day?

It’s being reported that he will not play tonight

[RiotAct]

1 hour ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Yea they're just going to cut him.  

yep it would appear that way.

[Beck Water]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

We now also have Barkley punting and Keenum holding 

 

OMG seriously?  BARKLEY?

[fridge]

Just now, Beck Water said:

 

OMG seriously?  BARKLEY?

 

Well it clearly doesn't matter. Imagine being worked up over this.

[KDIGGZ]

We are 1 injury away from them asking people in the stands if they have any punting/holding abilities 

[Bills2022]

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

We now also have Barkley punting and Keenum holding 

 

I rather have Barkley make the team as a 3rd QB and be our punter than keep this guy.  Great punters are necessary for bad offenses, not the Bills offense.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, Beck Water said:

 

It's possible.

 

Apparently there may be quite the campaign of season ticket holders weighing in:

 

 

 

She's been at it all day on Twitter.

[Simon]

7 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Araiza attorney said the Bills used a private investigator 

 

The title should say that the investigation didn't include the victim's lawyer.

Judging by what we've seen from teh guy, I doubt if I would have contacted him in a fact-finding mission either.

 

 

[Alphadawg7]

2 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Araiza attorney said the Bills used a private investigator 

 

Lol, of course they are not "investigating" the case through EITHER parties attorney.  Both attorneys are 100% biased to their clients version of said event in any case ever.  He is a civil attorney representing a client for money, not an unbiased investigator, he has no role in anyones investigation into the matter.  

 

 

[BullBuchanan]

3 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Oh you mean the guy who went through a trial where all the facts, evidence, and information was presented for everyone to make an informed decision on what their opinion on his guilt or innocence is?  

 

Yet you can't even tell me if Matt was on the property at the time this happened...but please carry on.  

Maybe Jane Doe doesn't even exist? Maybe there was never even a crime at all and all of this is just an AI simulation on twitter?

I'm 100% willing to be wrong in saying that he was on the property at the time as opposed to sticking my neck out for a potential rapist, but you do you my man.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Just now, KDIGGZ said:

We are 1 injury away from them asking people in the stands if they have any punting/holding abilities 

Hold my beer. How hard can it be?

[HalftimeAdjustment]

Based on what is best for the Bills as a football team, if they are not reasonably sure this is false, they should sign another punter and cut Araiza. It is too much of a distraction to keep a punter who hasn't even been on the active roster yet while this plays out. 

 

This may not be what is fair, but it is the best decision for the team. The draft pick is gone at this point. There will be a cloud over him for some time which is bad. After that either he will be cleared and resume an NFL career or he will not be cleared and suffer the consequences. 

 

Basically the Bills can take bad publicity for an upgrade at punter (which may not be permanent if he is found liable/guilty) or they can have neutral publicity for an off-the-street punter. The latter seems right.

[Bills2022]

1 minute ago, Beck Water said:

 

OMG seriously?  BARKLEY?

 

He is a good punter and holder. No joke. You will be surprised how good he is. 

[stevestojan]

Just now, KDIGGZ said:

We are 1 injury away from them asking people in the stands if they have any punting/holding abilities 

Well if Bass gets hurt, then we’re in a whole new world of this ***** sucks. 

[Shake_My_Head]

3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Araiza attorney said the Bills used a private investigator 

That headline seems designed to generate clicks and cast aspersions on the Bills.    Why would they ever talk to the plaintiff's lawyer?   

 

Talk to law enforcement, talk to private investigators.   Just like in the McCoy case that's been cited a few times in this thread...

[Ralonzo]

1 minute ago, Beck Water said:

 

 

We've gone from "you shouldn't have worn that dress" to "you shouldn't have associated with someone wearing that dress" so I guess that's progress. Toward what, I have no idea.

[McDeerInTheHeadlights]

2 minutes ago, Bills2022 said:

 

Who cares where he was picked. A mediocre directional punter will fit the Bills just fine. We don't need some deep punter. We won't be punting from deep on our side of the field too often.

 

I can appreciate your viewpoint, but that's what it was worth to the eggheads of our franchise. They should have a pretty clear idea of what's needed to them, don't you think?