New York Jets hand Matt Araiza an NFL lifeline and will receive him for practice today… a week after it was revealed that he was NOT present at the alleged gang rape that led to his being cut off by the Buffalo Bills
- Matt Araiza was released on August 27 last year after being drafted by the team
- He has yet to play in an NFL game, but will not face criminal charges
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The Jets train punter Matt Araiza, ESPN reported.
Araiza was suspended from the bills last August after being named in a then-17-year-old’s civil lawsuit that charged him and his San Diego state teammates with gang rape at an off-campus party.
But earlier this month it came to light that Araiza was not present at the time of the alleged gang rape.
According to a 200-page transcript obtained by Yahoo Sports where the deputy district attorney told the girl why Araiza was not charged, the gambler had left the off-campus party around 12:30 p.m., an hour prior to the alleged gang rape.
“He wasn’t even at the party anymore,” assistant district attorney Trisha Amador told the prosecutor. “All I know is that suspect Araiza disappeared from the party at that point.”
Matt Araiza has been given an NFL lifeline by the Jets following his release from Buffalo
The San Diego district attorney’s office decided not to press charges against him last December, and San Diego State University also said last week it had found no wrongdoing against him in an investigation.
The civil case is still pending.
“I am deeply grateful for the thorough work of the San Diego District Attorney’s office and for all the witnesses who were willing to come forward and tell the truth,” he said in a statement to ProFootballTalk.
“I am grateful that the facts of this case, as provided by the witnesses, will prove that what I have said from the beginning is, in fact, the truth.”
After it came to light that he was not present at the party where the alleged gang rape took place, he also revealed that Tomi Lahren from Outkick that he will not waive his right of counterclaim.
“The damage is done,” Araiza said in an interview last week about his reputation.
Araiza was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 Draft, but has not played an NFL game to date
And if I settled, it would waive my right to file a counterclaim. So at the moment we are the big favourite, and continuing this for longer will be very detrimental to them. So I’m not willing to settle.’
A 2022 sixth-round pick, Araiza has never appeared in an NFL game to date, but he told Lahren he held no grudge against the franchise.
“I have nothing against the Buffalo Bills, I wish things had been handled differently, but they treated me with respect, which I appreciate,” he told Lahren.
“It’s just the climate of how it is now. Allegations arouse so much hatred among those who support the prosecution that they were more or less forced to cut me off the team.’