Former Bills star Matt Araiza recalls All-American heroics, ‘punt god’ nickname and covering Chris Olave (EXCLUSIVE)
Matt Araiza was a highly celebrated and productive punter for San Diego State University, who had a banner year in 2021. His NFL future looked bright after the Buffalo Bills selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Araiza was named the Bills' starting punter just weeks into camp. But his NFL career was quickly put on hold.
On his way to winning the Ray Guy Award in 2021 as the best kicker in college football, and being named to almost a dozen All-America teams, Araiza set multiple NCAA records including punt average (51.19), 60-yard punts (18) and 50-yard punts (39) in a season.
Yet in August 2022, just four months after he was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 2022 draft, rape accusations were made against Araiza and a civil lawsuit was brought against him. Barely a week after naming him as the team’s starting punter, the Bills released Araiza.
Two separate investigations, one by the San Diego District Attorney’s office and the other by San Diego State University cleared Araiza of any criminal wrongdoing and no charges have ever been filed against him.
Despite this, Araiza is still on the outside looking with the opening of NFL camps right around the corner.
I was able to speak with Matt Araiza recently to catch up on what he’s been doing and get his point of view on what will happen in the future.
Matt Araiza out there BOOMING punts 😳
After being found not guilty of rape allegations, Araiza has been trying to work his way back into the league.
Araiza said that if he was a QB, there’s “no way” he wouldn’t be signed to a team by now.
Araiza worked out for the New York… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/rVXPgYehbS
What does your daily schedule consist of these days?
I’ve been training with a bunch of NFL specialists in San Diego four days per week. We lift weights from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., do field work from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. or 11 a.m., depending on the day, and get some punting and live holding (field goal/PAT) in. I feel really prepared. I’m just hoping to get an invite to camp and show an NFL team what I can do.
Let's go back to your high school days - you went to Rancho Bernardo High in San Diego. Did you only play football?
I played football, soccer and ran track. I was a big soccer player growing up, and my goal was to be a professional soccer player. I was always good at kicking the ball and would always do the free kicks for the soccer team.
I went out for football freshman year and when we were doing tryouts for positions, I was punting and kicking the ball. It was just normal for me, but I could tell by the looks on the coaches’ faces that what they were seeing wasn’t normal for them.
Were you solely the team’s punter/kicker?
Freshman year I was the kicker, punter and did kickoffs. I also played receiver and cornerback. Sophomore year I was pulled up to varsity, I played a little receiver but not much. Junior year, I had an injury and could only kick and punt.
Senior year I started at cornerback, which was a lot of fun. I even covered Chris Olave (former Ohio State receiver and first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2022) for a game, which was kind of funny. We are both from the same area.
Who won that matchup?
He (Olave) was a little bit faster!
Was San Diego State the only college that recruited you?
I had not received any official offers for soccer, but I was talking with the coach from Cal-Poly. After my sophomore season, I received a letter from FSU (Florida State) and that’s when my focus shifted from soccer to football because I realized there was a better opportunity to get a scholarship through football.
A handful of major schools recruited me, but as a specialist, it’s rare to get a full ride to college. Coaches usually give you preferred walk-on status and tell you if you start, we will give you a scholarship. A couple of big schools offered me preferred walk-on status like Oklahoma State.
For me, it came down to Cal (Cal-Berkley) as a preferred walk-on or taking a full ride at San Diego State. I’m glad I went to San Diego State. I think it’s important to be where you are wanted. Cal was making it out that they wanted me, but they weren’t willing to put up a scholarship, that’s why I decided to go to State.
Most often, the quarterback or running back is the star of a college football team. Especially the running back, given the rich history over the years of players at the position for SDSU.
Yet 2021 was a banner season for you and you were known as the “rock-star punter”. You won the Ray Guy Award that year, you were named to a dozen All-America teams and set a bunch of NCAA records punting the ball.
What was it like being known as the “rock-star punter”?
It was a lot of fun. That’s the best way to put it. I was having more fun that year than any other time playing sports. There was excitement around fourth down for our team and our fans that’s not usually there. It was great to hear the crowds on fourth down and hear the excitement.
I’ll never forget at Air Force when I had one of my bigger punts of the year, I heard the whole crowd gasp at the same time. That’s probably one of my favorite moments in my sports career (Araiza was credited with an 81-yard punt during SDSU’s 20-14 victory over Air Force on October 21, 2021).
The following April the Buffalo Bills select you in the sixth round of the draft. Here’s a record-breaking and celebrated punter from sunny San Diego heading to frozen Buffalo. What were your initial thoughts?
It was interesting but when it hit me that it was the Bills and I started thinking about the team and I was excited to be on a good team. It’s not like college when you are a good player you end up on a good team. With the draft, you could end up on any team. To be picked by a team that, at the time, was the Super Bowl favorites, was really exciting. That was my main focus.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Read part two of the interview here.
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