SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Former San Diego State football star Matt Araiza said he is looking forward to resuming his NFL career following the dismissal of the rape lawsuit against him.
Araiza’s attorneys on Tuesday announced that the lawsuit accusing the ex-Aztecs punter of rape would be dismissed “in the next week” after an agreement was reached with the plaintiff that required her to do so.
Per Araiza’s attorneys, there would be no settlement in the case and Araiza’s defamation lawsuit against Jane Doe would be dropped.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Araiza and his attorneys spoke about the dismissal of Doe’s lawsuit and what it will mean for the punter’s pro football prospects.
Araiza said the case and lawsuit against him “changed me a lot. I'm well aware now of the evil that's out there and people who are willing to ruin someone's life for money. I've never really experienced that before.”
As for his future plans, Araiza told the media he's rebuilding and piecing things together one day at a time.
"[I’m] confident that I'll be able to regain my NFL career… I believe it's more of a when, not an if. And again, just trying to focus on football when I get there," he says. "When I was cut, I was an NFL starter, I had just beat out a veteran. I was on a four-year contract and that won't be handed back to me. No one in the NFL is going to go, ‘Here's the job that he once had.’ So, working to regain where I was at is my primary goal right now.”
Asked how the case has affected himself, his friends, and his family, Araiza answered that it would be tied to his name and reputation forever, and his loved ones experienced anguish along the way.
“It was tough to watch the pain that it caused my family because, you know, I've been proven innocent but they for sure had absolutely nothing to do with this," he says. "And yeah, that was the hardest part for me was watching what my family lived through.”
Araiza believes there shouldn't be a rush to judgment from the general public when lawsuits of this nature are initially filed.
"The day you file a lawsuit, you don't have to prove anything. Sometimes you don't have to prove anything for years. So, this idea society has that the second somebody files a lawsuit, it's completely true and we must take action, based on what's alleged; I disagree with it," he says. "And I think professional sports teams, as well as college teams, should have the backbone to say, ‘Look, we take these allegations seriously, but until something is proven, we can't cut our guy. We can't push somebody out who's worked their whole life to be here.’ I think that's what I would like to see moving forward.”
Araiza and his attorneys addressed the possibility they will pursue legal action against the accuser’s lawyer, Dan Gilleon.
Araiza accused Gilleon of lying time and time again, primarily through the media, which he says tarnished his reputation.
“Had he just filed the lawsuit and not gone on a big media tour, it might be a different story. But the way he handled it was unbelievably unprofessional," he says. "Going to Twitter, starting this big social media campaign… It was quite ridiculous, and he’ll be held accountable for his actions.”
Araiza said he's reserved his right to sue Gilleon, and the tolling agreement states it's a favorable determination for the punter.
“That's the first element of malicious prosecution. So, they handed us one of the three. And that's what they had to do to kind of get me to drop my lawsuit [against Doe]; that was the bargaining chip they had to bring to the table. So, I'm looking forward to it, and like I said, we already have one of the three elements given to us,” Araiza said regarding the potential lawsuit against Gilleon.
At the end of his statement, Araiza thanked his supporters as he faced the accusations, and he again emphasized the importance of allowing a case to play out.
“I appreciate the people that stood by me and the people that didn't want to rush to judgment and the people who believed I deserved my day in court. There was a lot of those, a lot of people reaching out to me," he said. "And I just want to reiterate that a team and fans should not rush to judgment and allow someone to defend themselves before just believing in an allegation.”
In Aug. 2022, a woman accused Araiza and two other men of sexually assaulting her at an off-campus party in Oct. 2021. The woman said she was 17 and a high school student at the time.
The Buffalo Bills, who selected Araiza in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, cut him days after the lawsuit was filed.
Araiza had long maintained that the sex with the woman was consensual. He also said she told him she was 18 years old.
In Dec. 2022, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges against Araiza.
In July 2023, Araiza filed the defamation suit against the accuser and her attorney, Dan Gilleon.
ABC 10News reached out to Gilleon for his and Jane Doe’s reaction, and he stated, in part:
“This was a mutual settlement agreement in which both sides released each other and neither admitted any wrongdoing. The settlement has no bearing on what happened that night in October 2021.”
