The Buffalo Bills decided Saturday that it was untenable to keep rookie punter Matt Araiza on the roster amid explosive accusations that he participated in a gang-rape of a then 17-year-old girl last fall in California.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The team announced it has released Araiza, a little more than 48 hours after the public release of a civil suit against him and two of his former San Diego State University teammates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In discussing the team’s decision Saturday evening, a somber Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said, \u201cOur culture here is more important than winning football games.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThe last 48 hours have been very difficult for a lot of people,\u201d Beane said. \u201cIt’s been tough. … We sympathize with this whole situation, all the parties involved, this young woman, what she went through. Really feel bad for that whole situation. Ultimately this a legal situation, we don’t know all the facts and that’s what makes it hard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
People are also reading\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\u201cBut at this time,\u201d Beane said, \u201cwe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBeane made it clear Araiza’s version of the events on the night in question were different than what is alleged in the lawsuit. Araiza released a statement Friday night through his agent saying the \u201cfacts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the case\u201d and that he looked forward to \u201cquickly setting the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBeane said the team did not know about FL when it picked Araiza in the sixth round of the N draft in late April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u201cWe did not know about this, and the league did not know about this,\u201d Beane said. \u201cWe’ve reached out to I can tell you double-digit teams at this point, and no one had anything on this. These names were sealed, wherever the investigation was at that point. Yes, if we had this, and we get things like this from guys, you know how important the character and the culture is to Sean (McDermott) and me. And anything that would have been lingering, (Araiza) would have been off our board.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut at this time,\u201d Beane said, \u201cwe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Beane made it clear Araiza’s version of the events on the night in question were different than what is alleged in the lawsuit. Araiza released a statement Friday night through his agent saying the \u201cfacts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the case\u201d and that he looked forward to \u201cquickly setting the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Beane said the team did not know about FL when it picked Araiza in the sixth round of the N draft in late April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe did not know about this, and the league did not know about this,\u201d Beane said. \u201cWe’ve reached out to I can tell you double-digit teams at this point, and no one had anything on this. These names were sealed, wherever the investigation was at that point. Yes, if we had this, and we get things like this from guys, you know how important the character and the culture is to Sean (McDermott) and me. And anything that would have been lingering, (Araiza) would have been off our board.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n