Throughout the laborious lead up to the NFL Draft, one of the players the Buffalo Bills have shown heavy interest in is wide receiver Isaiah Bond.
Well, all that hard work invested on the Texas speedster - which included a scouting combine interview, a pro day individual workout and interview, and a top 30 facility visit - may be for naught after the news Thursday that he turned himself in to the Frisco, Texas police department after it had issued a sexual assault arrest warrant for him.
The nature of the alleged incident is not known, nor when and where it may have occurred, and Bond (likely his agent) issued a statement after he posted bond and was released which was obtained by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:
“Regarding the accusation made against me, I would appreciate the time and opportunity to defend myself and prove the claims made, patently false. I am in full cooperation with the authorities and will remain a willing and active participant in the investigation. Unfortunately, claims like these prove to be harmful to all involved, absent full review. I kindly request that all reserve judgement until the authorities provide a complete report based on truth and evidence.”
As we know in this country, innocent until proven guilty, so we’ll have to see how this impacts what teams think about Bond who has been projected as a potential second- or third-round pick.
Of course, the Bills have a little experience in matters like this. Their 2022 sixth-round pick, punter Matt Araiza, had made the team that summer in training camp, but then came an explosive revelation that he was allegedly involved in the gang rape of a 17-year-old female student during his last year at San Diego State.
After doing their own investigation, the Bills cut Araiza, but more than 15 months later the female dropped her lawsuit against Araiza, he then agreed to dismiss his own defamation suit against her, no money was exchanged, and the matter was closed. Shortly thereafter, Araiza was signed as a free agent by the
