The Buffalo Bills spend a lot of time talking about personal character and how important it is to them when researching the players they want to draft or sign.
Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane are almost on the same page when it comes to their culture.
The accusation that Matt Araiza was involved in a gang rape of a 17-year-old girl casts a dark shadow on the organization.
The Bills have a kicker accused of participating in a rape.
Matt Araiza was accused of rape, but the NFL did not suspend him.
After all, Araiza and his two former San Diego State teammates have not yet been charged with a crime, so there is still a long way to go.
It will be difficult for the Bills to ignore the fact that Araiza admitted to having sex with a minor.
When I read about this case, his admission was the thing that jumped out to me. There are a lot of cases I handle where we don't have that type of evidence.
The San Diego police department opened an investigation after the alleged incident at Araiza's home.
She claimed in her lawsuit that detectives from the Sex Crimes Unit arranged for her to make a phone call to all three of the players. He told Araiza that she should be tested for STDs after having sex with her.
She asked Araiza if they had sex, to which he replied, "This is Matt Araiza." I have no recollection of that night. He ended up hanging up. There were recordings of the calls.
Simpson Tuegel, a former criminal defense attorney who now specializes in victims rights cases and has represented survivors in some of the biggest sexual assault cases of the past decade, said Araiza's statement is damning.
Simpson said that initial acknowledgement is not legal. When you layer on top of that, alcohol, heavy intoxication, what sounds like some pretty well documented and violent physical injuries that this minor woman suffered, that is a really problematic statement.
The Bills put out a hollow statement when the news of the lawsuit broke.
There was a civil complaint made against Matt in October of 2011. The matter was thoroughly examined due to the seriousness of the complaint. This is an ongoing civil case and we have no further comment at this time.
On July 31, Dan Gilleon sent an email to the Bills notifying them of the allegations and the impending civil litigation against Araiza, Zavier Leonard and nowlin.
The Bills are trying to make us believe that they didn't know about the alleged incident when they used a sixth-round draft pick on a punt returner.
Simpson Tuegel thinks it's odd that the Bills only learned of the situation on July 31st.
The teams conduct physical workouts and reference medical records. They interview most or in some cases all of the players they pick, and they do deep dives into their background away from the football field.
This seems to be a potential boulder that was left alone.
Some of the original reporters and information that came to the school were athletes beyond the football team who were communicating to the university about the incident.
If the Buffalo Bills had done the depth of checking that they claim they do now on athletes, their histories and their background, and all of the things they are saying they are doing now to try to vet and prevent athletes who have these sorts of problems from being on the team, they would
According to the Los Angeles Times, Araiza was the subject of a rape allegation through a San Diego State campus reporting system.
San Diego State received the first of several submissions from people with third-hand information about an alleged sexual assault. The San Diego police department requested that the university not open its own investigation and that it give information to assist in their investigation.
The student said he hoped this wasn't true for Matt's sake. If it is true, I hope he gets consequences for his actions and the girl gets justice.
How could the Bills not know about this? Wouldn't you think that the team's investigators would have been able to find that information if it was out there?
They continued to hold a training camp punting competition between Araiza and Matt Haack even though they knew Gilleon was sending an email.
We can assume that the Bills are behind Araiza because he hasn't been charged with a crime yet. The case will be allowed to evolve until the San Diego district attorney decides whether to charge him and the other players with a crime.
They could either let Araiza go and sign another person, fine or suspend him, or they could do nothing until the matter is settled out of court.
Simpson Tuegel thinks it is enough to charge him with a crime based on what she has read. I think that is an admission and a problematic statement for him as a criminal defense lawyer or as a lawyer who has represented victims for years. She is under the age of 18. I don't know how you can ignore those facts. That's a real issue.
The alleged incident that happened before Araiza entered the league is not subject to the league's personal conduct policy.
The Commissioner has the power to define, address and sanction conduct that is detrimental to the league and professional football.
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The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle originally published this article.
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