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College football coach abruptly walks out of press conference ahead of Week 1 over questions about former player
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Brady Hoke was not interested in taking questions about former player Matt Araiza ahead of San Diego State’s Week 1 game. Hoke and SDSU athletic director JD Wicker walked out of a Monday news conference after repeated Araiza questions.
Araiza, was a standout punter at San Diego State, playing from 2018-to-2021. In a recently filed civil lawsuit, Araiza and 2 teammates are accused of gang-raping a then-17-year-old woman at an off-campus party in 2021.
The Buffalo Bills, who drafted Araiza in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, have released Araiza ahead of his rookie season. Araiza has denied the accusations.
Hoke and Wicker made opening statements about Araiza at Monday’s news conference. Instead of questions about SDSU’s Week 1 game, reporters continued to ask questions about Araiza, prompting Hoke and Wicker to walk out.
Statement from JD Wicker and Coach Brady Hoke on SDSU investigation: pic.twitter.com/1EP9lcVRce
— Allison Edmonds (@aedmondstv) August 29, 2022
#SDSU AD JD Wicker and football coach Brady Hoke just got up and walked out of a news conference because they wanted to discuss Saturday’s football game, not the many questions swirling around the Matt Araiza gang-rape lawsuit.
— Bernie Wilson (@berniewilson) August 29, 2022
Here’s video of @GoAztecs JD Wicker & Brady Hoke walking out of press conference on sexual assault allegations after multiple questions about assault. They said they would only talk football after initial statements. @nbcsandiego pic.twitter.com/tSWdARjnX4
— Todd Strain (@TODDSTRAINNBCSD) August 29, 2022
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
