{"id":62501,"date":"2022-09-01T05:38:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T05:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-sign-replacement-for-punter-matt-araiza-who-was-released-amid-rape-allegation\/"},"modified":"2022-09-01T05:38:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T05:38:58","slug":"bills-sign-replacement-for-punter-matt-araiza-who-was-released-amid-rape-allegation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-sign-replacement-for-punter-matt-araiza-who-was-released-amid-rape-allegation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills sign replacement for punter Matt Araiza, who was released amid rape allegation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Four days after releasing rookie punter Matt Araiza amid a rape allegation, the Buffalo Bills have found his replacement.<\/p>\n<p>The Bills signed veteran punter Sam Martin to a one-year deal, the team announced Wednesday.  Martin, 32, has played nine seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Denver Broncos.  The Detroit Lions selected Martin in the fifth round of the 2013 draft.  He played seven seasons in Detroit before spending the past two seasons in Denver.<\/p>\n<p>Among punters with at least 35 punts, Martin ranked fourth with a net average of 44.1 yards per punt last season.  The Broncos released Martin on Monday after <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikeklis\/status\/1564275701360074754\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:he reportedly refused to take a pay cut\" class=\"link \">he reportedly refused to take a pay cut<\/a> in favor of unproven second-year pro Corliss Waitman, who has seven punts for his NFL career.<\/p>\n<p>Martin&#8217;s release proved to be a break for the Bills after the unexpected release of Araiza, whom the team spent a sixth-round draft pick on him in April.  Nicknamed the Punt God, Araiza was known for his booming kicks at San Diego State.  He made headlines with an 82-yard punt for the Bills in his preseason debut.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 640px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader\" style=\"padding-bottom:67%;\"><noscript><img alt=\"Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza walks on the sideline during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Orchard Park, NY, Saturday, Aug.  13, 2022. (AP Photo\/Adrian Kraus)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/wtY01yfVngAn2.3bPjno_A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-08\/fde58c70-24c5-11ed-bee9-bd39b48dc074\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">The Bills released Matt Araiza amid an allegation that he took part in gang rape while a student at San Diego State.  (AP Photo\/Adrian Kraus)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Bills released Araiza on Saturday after a woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging that he and then-San Diego State teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin \u201cPa&#8217;a\u201d Ewaliko raped her at an off-campus party at Araiza&#8217;s residence in 2021 when she was 17 years old.  Neither Araiza nor his teammates were arrested in the alleged incident.<\/p>\n<p>Bills general manager Brandon Beane said Saturday that the team wasn&#8217;t aware of the until notified of the pending litigation in July.  Beane said the team waited to release Araiza until finding out more information.<\/p>\n<div class=\"caas-pull-quote-wrapper caas-img caas-lazy\" data-src=\"\">\n<blockquote class=\"caas-blockquote\">\n<p>\u201cWith the serious nature of the means, we don&#8217;t have to put all the facts together,\u201d Beane said on Saturday.  \u201cThere&#8217;s multiple versions of what happened and [Bills head coach Sean McDermott] is a football coach, and I&#8217;m a GM.  We don&#8217;t have access to everything, and that&#8217;s more important than playing football.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Araiza and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BStoneKUSI\/status\/1564378918408183808?s=20&amp;t=uRZtlg5fZyJnM57l0xz2QA\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:his family maintain that he is innocent\" class=\"link \">his family maintain that he is innocent<\/a> of the charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four days after releasing rookie punter Matt Araiza amid a rape allegation, the Buffalo Bills have found his replacement. The Bills signed veteran punter Sam Martin to a one-year deal, the team announced Wednesday. Martin, 32, has played nine seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Denver Broncos. The Detroit Lions selected Martin in &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-sign-replacement-for-punter-matt-araiza-who-was-released-amid-rape-allegation\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bills sign replacement for punter Matt Araiza, who was released amid rape allegation<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56512,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-p-matt-araiza-2-san-diego-state-teammates-accused-of-gang-rape-in-argument\/","url_meta":{"origin":62501,"position":0},"title":"Bills P Matt Araiza, 2 San Diego State teammates accused of gang rape in argument","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bills rookie Matt Araiza found prominence rarely seen for a punter in college football. Now he's being accused of taking part in a gang rape while at San Diego State. (AP Photo\/Adrian Kraus)Matt Araiza, the Buffalo Bills punter who came to prominence in college football as the \"Punt God\" last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58478,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/buffalo-bills-release-punter-matt-araiza-in-wake-of-gang-rape-argument-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":62501,"position":1},"title":"Buffalo Bills release punter Matt Araiza in wake of gang-rape argument","date":"August 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"8:03 PM ETAlaina GetzenbergESPN ORCHARD PARK, NY - The Buffalo Bills have released punter Matt Araiza two days after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging he and two other current and former San Diego State football players gang raped a minor.Araiza was not at practice Saturday after being held out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57862,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-punter-matt-araiza-held-out-of-teams-final-preseason-game-following-rape-argument\/","url_meta":{"origin":62501,"position":2},"title":"Bills punter Matt Araiza held out of team&#8217;s final preseason game following rape argument","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza't play in the team's final preseason game on Friday night against the Carolina Panthers, following civil lawsuit that he and two former San Diego State teammates gang raped a 17-year- didnold girl in 2021.Araiza traveled with the team to Charlotte, and was at Bank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57063,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-punter-matt-araiza-accused-of-rape-in-civil-lawsuit-in-california-buffalo-bills-news-nfl\/","url_meta":{"origin":62501,"position":3},"title":"Bills punter Matt Araiza accused of rape in civil lawsuit in California |  Buffalo Bills News |  NFL","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza and two former college teammates at San Diego State University have been accused in a California civil lawsuit of gang raping a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last fall.The lawsuits, filed Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court, alleges Araiza, then 21, had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56830,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bills-rookie-punter-matt-araiza-accused-in-civil-lawsuit-of-participating-in-gang-rape-of-minor\/","url_meta":{"origin":62501,"position":4},"title":"Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza accused in civil lawsuit of participating in gang rape of minor","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza and two others have been accused of gang raping a minor during an off-campus party at San Diego State University last year in a lawsuit filed Thursday in the County of San Diego Superior Court.The lawsuit alleges that Araiza had sex with a 17-year-old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58098,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/new-information-on-punter-matt-araiza-rape\/","url_meta":{"origin":62501,"position":5},"title":"New information on punter Matt Araiza rape","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bills head coach Sean McDermott said he has learned new information in the last day concerning the rape his punter, Matt Araiza, faces, and that he wants to learn more. \u201cI would say there's been some [new information in the last 24 hours], and I'm not going to deny that,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Matt Araiza","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/1410650151.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/oGOtp625z.HHu.vGQWDGRg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-08\/fde58c70-24c5-11ed-bee9-bd39b48dc074","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}