Matthew Ryan Araiza (born May 16, 2000) is an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

punter who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the San Diego State Aztecs, setting the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season record for average punt yardage as a junior. Araiza entered the National Football League (NFL) as a sixth-round selection by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

in the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

, but he was released prior to the 2022 season after being accused of

gang rape Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

Early life and high school

Araiza grew up in San Diego, California, and attended Rancho Bernardo High School, where he played football,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and was a hurdler on the track and field team. He made 37

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s and was a two-time All-America selection as a

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

. Araiza committed to play college football at San Diego State University (SDSU) over offers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Montana.

College career

At SDSU, Araiza redshirted his true freshman season for the

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

. He also served as the backup to All- Mountain West Conference kicker John Baron II. Araiza became the team's placekicker as a redshirt freshman and made a school-record 22 field goals on 26 attempts and was named honorable mention All-Mountain West. Araiza made 10 of 14 field goal attempts in SDSU's COVID-19-shortened 2020 season and was named honorable mention All-Mountain West for a second straight season. He also assumed punting duties during the team's opening game against UNLV and averaged 49.8 yards on five punts. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, Araiza was named first-string punter in addition to his kicking duties going into his redshirt junior season and was named a mid-season All-American by '' ESPN'' at the position. He finished the season averaging 51.19 yards per punt, breaking the NCAA record set by Texas A&M's Braden Mann in 2018 (50.98) and earning himself the nickname "Punt God" from fans. Araiza has stated that he does not "necessarily love the nickname", though he recognized it as a "huge compliment". Araiza won the

Ray Guy Award The Ray Guy Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding punter as adjudged by the Augusta Sports Council. The award is named after punter Ray Guy, an All-American for Southern Mississippi and an All-Pro in the National Foo ...

as the top punter in the nation, and he became the second player in Aztecs history to be named a unanimous All-American. Following the end of the season, Araiza announced that he would be forgoing his final season of eligibility to enter the 2022 NFL Draft.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

The

selected Araiza in the sixth round with the 180th overall pick of the

. He was the third punter selected in the draft. As a rookie, he was named the Bills starting punter following the release of veteran

Matt Haack Matthew Scott Haack (born July 25, 1994) is an American football punter for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State. He played his first four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, w ...

. Araiza did not dress for the Bills' final preseason game on August 26, 2022, one day after a lawsuit accusing him and two former SDSU teammates of rape became public. He was released the next day, on August 27. The Bills said they had become aware of the allegations against Araiza in July, after he was drafted. On February 16, 2023,

Galgos de Tijuana Galgos de Tijuana (English: ''Tijuana Greyhounds'') are an American football team based in Tijuana, Mexico. The Galgos compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home ...

of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA) announced that Araiza had signed with the team; however, days later, his agent denied that he had signed.

Personal life

Araiza is of Mexican descent through his father, Ricardo, who was born in Mexico. His father played football as a wide receiver and kicker at Bonita Vista High School.

Gang rape allegations

In 2022, Araiza was named as a defendant in a civil case in which he and two SDSU teammates were accused of gang raping a then-17-year-old girl, who was under the

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...

in California, at an off-campus party in 2021. Araiza has denied the allegations, with his agent stating, "The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press." Araiza's lawyer described the allegations as "a money grab" from the accuser, while the accuser stated that she reported the incident the day after the alleged rape, before she was aware of Araiza's background. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office did not file criminal charges against Araiza or the other two teammates, stating that prosecutors decided that "there is no path to a potential criminal conviction".

References

External links

San Diego State Aztecs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araiza, Matt Living people 2000 births American football punters San Diego State Aztecs football players Players of American football from San Diego American football placekickers American sportspeople of Mexican descent All-American college football players Buffalo Bills players