The Payments could not have recognized about the allegations hanging over punter Matt Araiza after they drafted him, however a minimum of two different groups had an inkling that one thing had occurred.
Based on the Related Press, executives from two completely different NFL groups turned conscious that Araiza had been concerned in an incident within the lead-up to the draft, although they didn’t know the extent of the allegations. Araiza, who was launched by the Payments on Saturday, was accused of being concerned within the gang rape of a 17-year-old, with particulars coming to gentle after a lawsuit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court docket accusing Araiza and two of his teammates at San Diego State.
The Payments, although, had been conscious that Araiza was the topic of a police investigation after they launched Matt Haack — his competitors for the beginning punter job — on Monday. The sufferer’s lawyer, Dan Gilleon, mentioned the Payments additionally ignored his warnings about Araiza in late July.
“The Buffalo Payments had no alternative however to chop their younger punter after so badly botching their response to our declare,” Gilleon mentioned in a press release, per the AP. “They ignored us, [when] I warned them [what] would occur might be prevented if they simply stored their heads within the sand. That is what enablers do.”
Araiza denied the allegations in a press release launched by his agent on Friday, however has not spoken publicly himself.
“I’m certain he’s very upset and disenchanted that his profession with the Payments ended not as a result of he performed poorly however due to false allegations leveled in opposition to him by a younger girl and her lawyer,” Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, informed the AP. “I hope he’s again within the NFL quickly.”
Requested in regards to the determination to not contact Gilleon, Payments GM Brandon Beane mentioned in a press convention that Kathryn D’Angelo, the staff’s lawyer, “heard what he needed to say and that’s after we started our course of.”
“We’re not excellent. However I can inform you, we simply tried to do what was proper,” Beane mentioned. “In our coronary heart of hearts, I can lay my head down at night time realizing that I’ve tried to do what’s proper.”
