Matt Araiza is planning on suing attorney Dan Gilleon, the lawyer for the alleged victim who accused the punter of being part of a gang rape at a San Diego house party in October 2021.
The comments were part of a segment on “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” scheduled to air Tuesday night on HBO.
Araiza said during the segment that he would not settle the pending civil lawsuit that was brought against him by the alleged victim and that he would sue Gilleon for defamation, according to Pro Football Talk.
“I’ve already hired an attorney for it, and things have already been drafted,” Araiza told correspondent Andrea Kremer. “I will never waive my right to sue him. That’s coming.”
Gilleon was also interviewed as part of the segment and told “Real Sports” that the civil suit would proceed against Araiza.
Last month San Diego prosecutors met with the girl who alleged the incident happened to explain witness statements and video evidence that indicated Araiza had left the party hours before the alleged rape occurred.
The civil suit came to light last August and the Buffalo Bills’ sixth-round pick in 2022 was subsequently released by the team shortly after the allegations came to light.
In December, prosecutors announced they would not file charges against Araiza.
Gilleon did appear to amend what they were suing Araiza for and his role.
“We are not saying that he was, and we are not saying that he wasn’t,” Gilleon said. “Let’s say he was not one of the men in there. That doesn’t absolve him of liability.”
“Our allegation is, is he contributed heavily to the harm that she suffered that night,” Gilleon later said. “He had sex with my client. Following that, she ended up having sex with multiple guys and came out of there bloodied, in shock. Ended up at the hospital, ended up with the police, and ended up traumatized. So that’s what I mean by the gang rape. Gang rapes can occur for two days. They can occur over time. They can occur multiple places. So that’s the clarification.”
Araiza has attempted to get his NFL career back on track since his exoneration in May.
The Jets became the first team to workout Araiza late last month, but no other teams have appeared to bring him in since.