Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza, aka the “Punt God,” and two other San Diego State football players have been accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last year, according to a civil lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court on Thursday, via the Los Angeles Times.
The other two men have been identified as Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko.
The lawsuit claims that the 22-year-old former Aztec punter gave the alleged victim a drink that “not only contained alcohol, but other intoxicating substances,” per the lawsuit. He then allegedly had sex with the minor before bringing her inside where Leonard and Ewaliko raped the then-high-school student for “an hour and a half.”
According to the lawsuit, the minor “stumbled out of the room bloody and crying. Her nose, bellybutton, and ear piercings had been pulled out, and she was also bleeding from her vagina.”
“It’s a shakedown because he’s now with the Buffalo Bills,” Araiza's attorney Kerry Armstrong said, via the Los Angeles Times. “There is no doubt in my mind that Matt Araiza ever raped that girl.”
The Los Angeles Times confirms that while no charges have been filed yet, the detectives have submitted their report to determine if there should be criminal charges on any of the three alleged suspects.
Matt Araiza, a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, recently won the Bills' starting punter job. He was nicknamed the “Punt God” at San Diego State for his deep, booming punts that garnered a legion of fans, especially on social media.
Follow Us
Subscribe