Kansas City Chiefs star Matt Araiza finally made his NFL debut Thursday night, nine months after the kicker was cleared from a sexual assault lawsuit.
Araiza, 24, was released by the Buffalo Bills in August 2022 after a woman alleged he and other University of San Diego players raped her at an off-campus party in October 2021.
She claimed the football player, then 21, had sex with her in the side yard of a home before taking her to a bedroom where a group of men took turns raping her.
However, after he filed a defamation countersuit against her, the woman agreed to dismiss him from her suit in December last year.
Araiza also dropped his countersuit against her to end the ordeal, before being hired by the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Chiefs two months later.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Matt Araiza finally made his NFL debut on Thursday night.
His move to Kansas City sparked controversy in February, with some fans criticizing the organization for signing him and others insisting he deserves a second chance.
And nine months after the sexual assault lawsuit was dismissed, Araiza was finally able to make his NFL debut in the Chiefs’ season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
The former San Diego player came in to punt the ball for Kansas City early in the second quarter Thursday night, sending his kick deep into Baltimore’s half.
Araiza was nicknamed the “God of Punting” and was honored as a consensus All-American in 2021 for his powerful kicking that helped San Diego State to a school-best 12-2 season as a senior.
He was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft but was released two days after the lawsuit was filed.
“My name, my reputation, all of that will be tied to me forever, it will not go away,” Araiza said at a news conference in December.
Araiza, 24, was released by the Buffalo Bills in August 2022 after a woman alleged he and other University of San Diego players raped her at an off-campus party in October 2021.
Araiza punted for Kansas City in its season opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night after the woman agreed to drop her lawsuit last December.
“It was very hard to see the pain this caused my family, because I was proven innocent, but they definitely had absolutely nothing to do with this.”
He added: “When I got cut, I was a starter in the NFL and I had just beaten an NFL veteran. I had a four-year contract and they’re not going to give it back to me.”
‘Nobody in the NFL is going to say, ‘Here’s the job you once had,’ so working to get back to where I was is my main focus right now.
“I’m confident I’ll be able to get my NFL career back, whenever that may be. I think it’s more a matter of when, not if.”
