A tale too often told

 By now, the familiarity breeds not so much contempt as a numbed weariness. How often must this tale too often told be repeated, everything but the details all but pro forma?

NFL player accused of rape, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, domestic abuse.

Player, or the player's suit, says the accusations are false; player says he looks forward to "setting the record straight."

Team investigates, benches/offloads player, draws fire (in some circles) for assuming his guilt and not letting the legal process play out.

All of that happened in Buffalo this time.

The player in question is rookie punter Matt Araiza, a kid from San Diego State with a howitzer for a leg. He's been named in a civil suit by a young woman who claims Araiza and two other Aztec football players gang-raped her in 2021, when she was 17 years old.

Seventeen is underage in California.

So, here we go again. And how many times do we have to go again?

Araiza claims, as they all do, that "the facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press." His attorney, as they all do,  says the rape allegations are "just untrue." 

The Bills released him anyway, claiming, as they all do, that they had talked to the young woman's attorney, and that their investigation was "ongoing." But they had gotten enough information to convince them the allegations were serious enough to warrant pink-slipping their heralded rookie.

"(We're) trying not to rush to judgment  and obviously Matt's version was different and you want to give everyone as much due process as you can," Bills general manager Brandon Beane said last night. "Again, we're not a judge and jury."

Of course, as always, some people will say that's exactly what the Bills became when they fired Araiza. This might be true.

On the other hand, it's also true the allegations are serious, and the Bills are a business, and no matter what Beane says about due process, businesses are not guided by due process. They are guided by expediency, and that expediency is guided by profit and loss. In that regard, it's not smart business to keep a guy around who's been credibly accused of statutory gang rape.

"But Mr. Blob," you're saying now. "What about the Browns and Deshaun Watson?"

Well ... I did say SMART business. And we are talking about the Browns.

That does, however, add yet another familiar element to this too-told tale. The Bills can look three hours or so west and say, "At least we're not the Browns."

And how many times have we heard that?