“You dragged your feet” - Stephen A. Smith slams Bills' negligence in Matt Araiza case
Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza was the latest name to join the NFL's ever-growing list of scandals, with the punter given marching orders by the franchise earlier this week.
Content warning: This story contains details about alleged sexual assault that may be emotionally upsetting to readers.
The Bills punter was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl last October with two of his teammates at San Diego State.
We have released Punter Matt Araiza. https://t.co/dlmKJnEj7v
After announcing that the team would release Matt Araiza, Bills general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott fielded questions from the press. They also laid out the team's reasoning for how they handled the situation since the accuser's attorney reached out to the franchise in late July.
However, NFL analyst Stephen A. Smith didn't take the Bills' words at face value. Smith slammed the Bills' handling of the situation, alleging they dragged their feet in the incident.
Smith said on ESPN:
"It's fair to surmise that if the general counsel for the Bills spoke to the lawyer of the alleged victim, then you had that information and those details before a few days ago. So the fact that you had those details and you waited this long to act, that's a problem for the Buffalo Bills."
For their part, the Bills said they were trying to be "thorough and thoughtful" in their process "and not rush to judgment."
Beane told the media:
"I would say it's not easy, you're trying to put facts around a legal situation, sometimes with limited information, and so ultimately that's where we're at today with a decision."
Stephen A. Smith, however, indicated that Buffalo's handling of the whole incident left much to be desired.
"The bottom line is, [Araiza] was a member of the Bills. And once he was a member of your organization and this came to light, you were supposed to act immediately, especially since your general counsel brought it to you... The general counsel for your team brought it to your attention after speaking to the lawyer of the alleged victim and this is what happened. You dragged your feet, one would say."
The #Bills said they knew about what's going on for weeks, but they continued to let Matt Araiza practice and play.
Not until the lawsuit/incident became public knowledge, did the Bills start to restrict Araiza.
How do they explain that? twitter.com/ProFootballTal…
The allegations against Matt Araiza
The victim, 17 years old at the time, filed a lawsuit against Matt Araiza in San Diego Superior Court, alleging that the former Bills punter drugged her at a party.
In her lawsuit, the alleged victim added that Matt Araiza took her to a bedroom where a group of men waited. Two of his San Diego teammates then reportedly took turns raping her while she faded in and out of consciousness.
This journal written by my client a day after the @matt_araiza assault is powerful but heartbreaking. https://t.co/oJF2JeGGrh
The alleged victim's lawyer later posted pictures of the journal in which she documented the assault the next day.