ESPN's Pat McAfee names former Bills P Matt Araiza as name to watch for Steelers punting vacancy
Following an underwhelming two years as punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team cut bait with Pressley Harvin in a trio of moves to jumpstart the offseason. So with the Steelers in search of their next ball kicker, one of the best of his generation threw a name out there for consideration: Pat McAfee Ponders […]
Following an underwhelming two years as punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team cut bait with Pressley Harvin in a trio of moves to jumpstart the offseason.
So with the Steelers in search of their next ball kicker, one of the best of his generation threw a name out there for consideration:
Pat McAfee Ponders Matt Araiza in Pittsburgh
“After watching his film and how he punts, Matt Araiza is a guy that would be able potentially to handle the AFC North stadiums”, McAfee said on his show earlier in the week. “You have to have a very strong leg, just like Pressley Harvin did”.
Araiza was lauded as one the best punters to enter the NFL in years when he came out of San Diego State in the 2022 NFL Draft after a tremendous college career and excellent pre-draft process:
And Arazia started out hot in the preseason with the Buffalo Bills, until he was released following allegations of rape, that have since been proven to be untrue:
“Ultimately, prosecutors determined it is clear the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges and there is no path to a potential criminal conviction,” the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a written statement.
“Matt has been forced to defend himself for the last sixteen months against false accusations and a campaign to ruin his career in the NFL. He will never get this time in his life back,” Araiza’s attorneys said in a statement to the Associated Press.
“My name, my reputation — this will be tied to me forever, that won’t go away,” Araiza said at a news conference. “It was tough to watch the pain that it caused my family, because I have been proven innocent but they for sure had absolutely nothing to do with this.”
So with time between the incident and his potential return to the NFL, Pittsburgh would be an ideal landing spot, especially given their history with SDSU players, specifically in the defensive backfield with Luq Barcoo, Damontae Kazee, and Trenton Thompson all of whom are former Aztecs currently dawning black and gold.
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