The Buffalo Bills released rookie punter Matt Araiza two days after he was accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a 17-year-old girl, the team announced Saturday.
"The last 48 hours has been very difficult, for a lot of people. It's been very tough," Bills general manager Brandon Beane said at a press conference Saturday. "We sympathize with this whole situation, all the parties involved. This young woman, what she went through. You really feel bad for that whole situation. Ultimately, this is a legal situation – we don't know all the facts. That's what makes it hard.
"But at this time, we just think it's the best move for everyone to move on from Matt and let him take care of this situation and focus on that, so we're going to part ways there."
The Bills held Araiza out during the team's final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Friday.
Head coach Sean McDermott said that he had been informed about the accusation, but did not go into details about when the team learned about it or if the punter had been untruthful when they talked to him.
The civil suit filed Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court alleges Araiza, then 21 and a member of the San Diego State football team, had sex with an inebriated 17-year-old high school senior outside of an off-campus party in October 2021 before bringing her inside a room where she was allegedly assaulted by multiple men for nearly 90 minutes.
LAWSUIT: Buffalo Bills rookie Matt Araiza accused of involvement in gang-rape of minor
"We tried to be thorough and thoughtful and not rush to judgment, and I would say it's not easy. You're trying to put facts around a legal situation sometimes with limited information," Beane said. "There are many things that we could not get our hands on. This was about letting Matt go handle his situation. This is bigger than football."
Attorney:Bills never spoke to woman who accused Matt Araiza of rape
Araiza was selected by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft in late April after playing at San Diego State. He was a first-team All-American and won the Ray Guy Award given to the nation's best punter.
According to the lawsuit, the teen drank with friends before attending a Halloween party the night of Oct. 16-17 at an off-campus home where Araiza lived. She said Araiza, who was 21 years old at the time, gave her a drink she believes "not only contained alcohol, but other intoxicating substances" despite her saying she was in high school, the suit adds.
The lawsuit says Araiza took the intoxicated teen to the side of the house and told her to perform oral sex on him before he "pulled her up from the ground, turned her around facing away from the party, and" penetrated her from behind. Then Araiza allegedly took her to a bedroom where his teammates took turns raping her for an hour and a half. The teen said she went in and out of consciousness during the sexual assault, the complaint says.
Zavier Leonard and Nowlin "Pa'a" Ewaliko were also named in the lawsuit. Both are no longer listed on the San Diego State football roster.
Contributing: Jace Evans
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