NFL rookie Matt Araiza accused of involvement in gang rape of teen

Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza has been accused of a horrific crime while he was attending college in 2021.

WARNING: Graphic content

NFL breakout rookie punter Matt Araiza is reportedly being accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl last year while at San Diego State University.

The Los Angeles Times reported Araiza, who earned the nickname “Punt God” due to his booming kicks while with the San Diego college team the Aztecs, faces a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday in California.

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The 22-year-old, along with two other San Diego State football players, are alleged to have had sex with the minor at an off-campus party, per the report. The victim claims she went in and out of consciousness during the incident, the New York Times reported.

Araiza’s lawyer denied the allegations to the outlet, claiming his client’s new-found status prompted the accusations.

“It’s a shakedown because he’s now with the Buffalo Bills,” Armstrong said. “There is no doubt in my mind that Matt Araiza ever raped that girl.”

The other two individuals named in the suit are Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko.

Matt Araiza at the NFL Combine. Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

The suit claims Araiza gave the woman a drink at the party, which she claims “not only contained alcohol, but other intoxicating substances,” per the report. She claims she told Araiza she was a high school student and that he knew she was visibly intoxicated, but he demanded she perform a sex act.

Further, she says Araiza took her into a separate room with Leonard, Ewaliko and at least one other man, whom she said threw her on the bed and proceeded to rape her for an hour and a half. During it, she reportedly says she noticed a light resembling a cell phone video. The woman, she says, had her nose, belly button and ear piercings ripped out

Armstrong told the outlet he does not believe the woman was intoxicated.

A record-breaker in college, Araiza recently won Buffalo’s starting punting job after turning eyes in pre-season, including an 82-yard rocket in the team’s first pre-season game. The kick went viral, bringing his “Punt God” moniker and persona to new levels in the NFL.

In college, Araiza earned unanimous All-American honours and won the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s best punter, during his junior season. He set multiple NCAA punting records, including kicks over 50 yards and punts over 60 yards in a season. He led the country in average distance per punt as well.

Araiza’s standout collegiate play earned him a sixth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft — a rarity for a kicking specialist to even be drafted — taken by the Bills. After the team released veteran Matt Haack, Araiza’s starting job was seemingly secured.

San Diego State has faced scrutiny after a recent Los Angeles Times report found the school did not properly alert and investigate the allegations, instead waiting seven months.

Per the report, records show questions were raised about the school’s eagerness to question or punish Araiza amid the team’s successful season.

“99% of the football players are aware of the 5-person rape so the rest of the student-athletes are left wondering why nothing is being done,” one student reportedly said.

The Bills have not yet released a statement.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.