Matt Araiza, Bills knew nothing of allegations before Draft Day

Lawyer: Matt Araiza, Bills knew nothing of rape allegations before Draft Day.

On Aug. 25m news broke that Bills punter Matt Araiza was being accused of taking part in a gang rape involving a 17-year-old girl. As the news began to unfold his lawyer did a televised interview seemingly admitting that the Buffalo Bills knew of the allegations before drafting him.

Now, in a statement made to FanSided, Kerry Armstrong is clarifying his statement.

Matt Araiza’s lawyer claims the Buffalo Bills did not know before Draft Day

“I did an interview on Channel 8 San Diego last night, and the last question the anchor asked me was regarding that issue,” Armstrong told FanSided on Friday afternoon. I replied something to the effect of, “You better believe it” (i.e., that Araiza told the Bills about these allegations before the draft). I did not realize until this morning when I watched it back that I obviously misheard the question. Araiza had no idea of the allegations at the time of the draft in late April of this year. In fact, he did not learn of them until the first L.A. Times article came out several weeks ago. And that is when he retained me.It is my understanding that Araiza then informed the Bills of these allegations in late July or early August of this year.”

Araiza was seen at practice on Friday, much to the dismay of NFL Twitter.

The team issued a statement on the matter writing, “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.”

This is an ongoing story and will be updated when more news is uncovered.