Former San Diego State punter Matt Araiza completed his delayed first NFL season Sunday by punting and holding for the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
Araiza was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft, the 180th overall selection and third of four punters, but was released on Aug. 27, 2022, two days after he and two college teammates were accused in a lawsuit of raping a 17-year-old girl in 2021.
"This afternoon, we decided that releasing Matt Araiza was the best thing to do," general manager Brandon Beane tweeted that day. "Our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games."
On Dec. 12, 2023, Araiza and his accuser mutually agreed to drop their respective lawsuits against each other, with neither party admitting any wrongdoing and no money changing hands. Araiza retained the right to sue his accuser's lawyer, Dan Gilleon.
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Araiza told the San Diego Union-Tribune in September that a settlement with Gilleon, who Araiza had accused of malicious prosecution, was reached over the summer. He declined to disclose the details.
No criminal charges were filed.
The Chiefs signed Araiza on Feb. 22.
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"So happy to be back doing what I love," Araiza wrote on the social media platform X. "Only need one chance."
The signing followed what general manager Brett Veach called "a long process."
"We attack this like we do every player that we add on our roster," Veach said at a news conference on Feb. 27. "We go through the whole process with our entire intel and security team. I think when that came through there was pretty much a green light, and it was an opportunity for him.
"He probably should have been in the league maybe sooner than what he was. He had to go through that process ... but as far as the information and our process there was no hold up there."
Kansas City's punter the previous four seasons, Tommy Townsend, signed as a free agent with the Houston Texans on March 15. The Chiefs signed former Brigham Young punter Ryan Rehkow as an undrafted free agent on May 4 but cut him on June 13, leaving Araiza as the lone punter on the roster.
During a media availability during training camp on Aug. 5, Araiza was asked if he anticipated that he would have another opportunity to play in the NFL.
"There were times that I didn't, and there were times that I did," Araiza said. "Honestly, it kept going back and forth in my mind. Yeah, there were a lot of moments where I thought it was over. I'm incredibly grateful to be here."
The Rancho Bernardo High School alum set three NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision records in 2021, his final season with the Aztecs 151 punt average (51.19 yards), 60-yard punts in a season with 18 and 50-yard punts with 39.
Araiza won the Ray Guy Award as college football's most outstanding punter, the only San Diego State player to win a major postseason award. He was nicknamed Punt God because of his viral 70- and 80-yard punts.
This season, Araiza was 11th in punting in the NFL, averaging 48.8 yards, and 17th in net punting, averaging 41.8 yards.
"He's been awesome," Andy Hill, Kansas City's assistant special teams coach, told the Daily Mail Wednesday. "When we got him, it was like a rebirth or second chance for him. He came in a little bit subdued, and we wanted to get that confidence back and be the way that he was in college which he did pretty quickly.
"We knew his talent level coming out of college. Tommy Townsend was moving on for better money, and we knew that a left-footed punter in the NFL is kind of unique and the fact that he had this great success in college.
"We had a competition with him and [Rehkow]. There were more days where Matt was better. He rose to the competition and started getting his confidence back as the days went along."
