Notre Dame says a story about Manti Te'o's girlfriend dying, which he said inspired him to play better as he helped the Fighting Irish get to the Discover BCS National Championship, turned out to be a hoax apparently perpetrated against the linebacker.
The university issued a news release Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported it could find no record of Lennay Kekua existing. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a news conference Wednesday night that coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.
This is one crazy story and I think it is just in its infancy. Will be interesting to find out how/why this happened. This is one elaborate joke and either Te'o is a huge victim and this whole thing is a sad joke on him and he is foolish to have gotten caught up in it OR Te'o was in on this and he's just an idiot with poor character for trying to play this up.
Notre Dame stands by Te'o and believes he is innoncent. Still, interesting Te'o said he had this girlfriend and I'm assuming he had this relationship for some time yet he never met the girl. Weird.
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Here is my theory: Manti is gay.
He is gay and he is a high profile player at a major college football program. He created a fictitious girlfriend so he wouldn't be exposed. The story worked well and kept people from asking why Manti didn't hang out with girls.
The "girlfriend" dies so he doesn't have to worry about girls bugging him or guys asking about it.
My guess is that a couple of weeks ago, someone threatened to expose him unless he paid money. Then he went to Notre Dame and made up some story about how this was a hoax perpetrated on him.
It seems pretty obvious to me. I cannot believe that it is as simple as he made up the story so he could win the Heisman. I also don't believe that he fell in love with someone online without ever meeting the woman face-to-face.
My biggest question is... Who cares?
Who cares? Pretty much everyone cares. This story isn't just on sports radio/websites. This story is all over the place. It's just such strange story that involves a high profile athlete at one of the most well known universities in the country. I don't particularly care if he is gay or not. I think people are just wondering what the truth is. Was he in on the hoax? Who was behind the hoax? It's just such a crazy story.
It is a big deal because of who he is. NFL teams have to decide if they want to take him. They will want to draft him because of his leadership and decision-making. They are going to invest millions of dollars in him. They need to know what is going on.
I really have no problem if he is gay and I hope this is just a matter of some kind of hoax on him - I hope he is not in on it.
We'll find out soon enough.
I must be missing something. Hes probably a decent draft pick coming out of ND and maybe it's worth a few min of news but I feel like whether this guy has a girlfriend or not or whether he made it all up is not worth the amount of attention its getting. I mean it's being covered on every talk show/news station as if it were like the Tiger Woods story a few years ago.
It is unbelievably bizarre. I have not heard about something like ever happening. This hoax puts into real question Te'o's character. If he was in on it, he clearly has some explaining to do. If he wasn't it is just insanely bizarre and the perpetrators of elaborate hoax need to be uncovered.
There is no question NFL coaches/GMs will ask him about it as character is a HUGE deal when investing millions of dollars into a player. Between his performance in the championship game and this mess, it really makes you wonder where he will be picked.
Again, this story is just in its infancy and there no doubt will be much more to come. Strange that that Arizona Cardinals player said that he and Polamalu both met the girl. Also strange that a tweet came from the girl's account late last night saying that answers would be coming today. This is just a very bizarre story.
Te'o was nearly the Heisman winner and he was the emotional leader of Notre Dame - a truly national program - that came back to national prominence this year.
He had a fake girlfriend who he had said had died earlier this year?
Why wouldn't it be a huge story?
I agree with JSR that this shouldn't really be all over the news. A few minutes of coverage is enough. However, we see "news" that shouldn't really be news every day.
The problem is there is 24/7 news coverage, so what are the networks going to fill all that time with? There's going to be garbage stories here and there.
Bizarre? Yes. Has Te'o's draft stock been negatively impacted? Yes. Do I care? No.
The Facebooking and Twitterization of our society is irritating to me. Younger generations can't function without being connected and people with questionable morals have unfiltered access to exploit the young and naive. I wouldn't be surprised if Te'o turns out to he a total nut job. I also wouldn't be surprised if his cousin and "friends" concocted the whole thing and it's all a cruel hoax.
I need more information before this story interests me. The media will speculate until the facts are revealed because they need something to talk about. Speculating as to who is at fault doesn't interest me in the least. When we find out the Te'o is gay and needed a cover or that his cousin is a complete prick who fabricated the whole thing, I will try my best to ignore this nonsense.
So is this story newsworthy and critical like the world is going to end? Of course not. However, it may be the most bizarre sports story I have ever heard. Throw in the fact that this guy was a Heismann candidate and high profile athlete at arguably the most recognizable football school in the country, it is bound to get interest.
It is more than simple interest. If the guy was in on the hoax than it really questions the guy's character and puts promoting oneself for awards and publicity to a new high (or low depending on your perspective). If he is not involved, it puts cruelty and bullying to a new level. Either way, the whole thing is crazy.
I agree with Deepie in that speculation doesn't really interest me. I like to find out more facts before I form my thoughts/opinions.
I also think Facebooking and Twitterization is ridiculous. I don't really care that someone is out enjoying a dinner with an old friend and that 50+ of their "friends" Like this. But to each his own and it's a free country so live and let live.
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