Former Bills Punter Matt Araiza Speaks Out After Rape Claims Against Him Are Dismissed

Lawyers for the former NFL player and his accuser reached an agreement without a monetary settlement this week

Former punter for the Buffalo Bills Matt Araiza spoke to reporters in a press conference on Wednesday morning for the first time since rape allegations against him were dismissed.

According to Fox 5 San Diego and Buffalo news station WGRZ, lawyers for Araiza, 23, and his accuser, known as Jane Doe, reached an agreement this week to dismiss the sexual assault allegations against the athlete without a monetary settlement.

In a statement issued to Fox 5 on Tuesday, Araiza’s attorneys, Dick Semerdjian and Kristen Bush, said, “This week marks the end of the August 2022 civil lawsuit filed against our client."

On Wednesday, Araiza addressed media regarding the situation. “It has changed me a lot,” he said, calling the time since the lawsuit was filed in August 2022 a "rollercoaster" while delivering his statement.

Araiza, a former star at San Diego State, continued, “My name, my reputation — this will be tied to me forever, that won’t go away."

Related: Former Bills Punter Matt Araiza Was Not Present at Alleged Gang Rape, Prosecutors Claim: Report

Following the accusation, Araiza was let go from the Buffalo Bills.

“It was tough to watch the pain that it caused my family, because I have been proven innocent but they for sure had absolutely nothing to do with this," Araiza said in his address on Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed in the San Diego Superior Court in Aug. 2022, accused Araiza of having sex with an intoxicated 17-year-old girl outside of a home and then bringing her inside, where she was allegedly further assaulted by Araiza and former San Diego State football players Zavier Leonard and Nowlin "Pa'a" Ewaliko. (Leonard and Ewaliko were never charged in the case).

Araiza later admitted to having consensual sex with the victim that night and again when speaking to USA Today Sports. "We had a brief encounter, and it is absolutely not how it's been portrayed in the media or the lawsuit," he told the outlet.

In December 2022, prosecutors determined they would not press any criminal charges following an investigation that spanned 124 days, per the report.

Little information was made available at the time regarding the circumstances that led to that decision, despite authorities having gathered more than 35 witness statements and 10 search warrants that found four terabytes of information regarding the incident.

In May, USA Today obtained a transcript of the victim's meeting with deputy district attorney Trisha Amador that offered more insight into the lawsuit's dissolution through video submitted by Jane Doe from the night of the alleged incident.

According to the transcript, per USA Today, Amador told Araiza's accuser, "In looking at the videos on the sex tape, I absolutely cannot prove any forceable sexual assault based upon what happened."

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Furthermore, USA Today said the transcript revealed that the district attorney's office used video footage to determine that Araiza wasn't even at the scene of the attack when the alleged gang rape happened, based on the "physical characteristics" of the men shown in the video.

According to the outlet, the encounter between the victim and multiple assailants happened between 12:55 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., one hour after Araiza apparently left the party.

Araiza's agent told Fox 5 that NFL teams have been reaching out after the lawsuit was dropped.

“I’m confident that I will be able to regain my NFL career — whenever that is," Araiza said. "I believe it’s more of an when, not an if.”

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