Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, the stories said, played this season under a terrible burden. A Mormon linebacker who led his Catholic school’s football program back to glory, Te’o was whipsawed between personal tragedies along the way. In the span of six hours in September, as Sports Illustrated told it, Te’o learned first of the death of his grandmother, Annette Santiago, and then of the death of his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua.
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This is long but good…
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http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax
What? That’s pretty messed up.
Thankfully ND getting killed by Alabama was very real!
Wow. Just wow.
Since that beating by 'Bama, we are finding out that a lot about Te’o was too good to be true.
All I can say is WOW! THat’s messed up! This is my favorite passage:
“Mostly, though, the friend simply couldn’t believe that Te’o would be stupid enough—or Ronaiah Tuiasosopo clever enough—to sustain the relationship for nearly a year.”
Says a lot about what the friend thinks of Ronaiah’s intellect.
Just heard on the radio that now Notre Dame is claiming that te’o is the victim of a hoax. Didn’t hear any other details.
Just heard on the radio that now Notre Dame is claiming that te’o is the victim of a hoax. Didn’t hear any other details.
Huh??? Someone needs to explain this to me b/c the original story was Te’o met her after a Standford football game and they dated, etc. Now they are claiming that Te’o was the victim of the hoax? This does not add up.
If you’re a Notre Dame fan, here’s a story that will stun you. Even if you’re not an Irish follower, you’re sure to be shocked:
Notre Dame has confirmed the reported death of Manti Te’o’s girlfriend during the football season was a hoax.
According to university spokesman Dennis Brown, "On December 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia.
The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators."
ESPN has it now. Te’o claims to be the victim:
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – 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 BCS title game, 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.
The university says that Notre Dame 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.
The university said “the proper authorities” are investigating a “very cruel deception.”
*On Sept. 12, Te’o learned that his 72-year-old grandmother, Annette Santiago, had died. Te’o said he was told just six hours later that Kekua, had lost her battle with leukemia. *
*According to Deadspin, the only photos that have been found online that identified Kekua, are actually pictures of another 22-year-old woman. That woman, who was not named in the report, told Deadspin one of those photos likely was shared by her former high school classmate named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. *
Friends and relatives of Tuiasosopo told Deadspin they believe he created Lennay Kekua. Kekua does not have a death certificate, Deadspin.com reported. Stanford, where she reportedly went to school, has no record of anybody by that name.
*According to the Deadspin report, Te’o and Tuiasosopo have been in contact via Twitter, including exchanging several friendly messages last summer. A Notre Dame source told ESPN that Te’o was vetted heavily when the school learned in December that Kekua was a hoax, and said he believes Te’o was not involved. But a friend of Tuiasosopo told Deadspin he was quote “80 percent sure” that Te’o participated and did so with publicity in mind. *
Te’o issued a statement Tuesday afternoon:
"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.
- "To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating.*
yeah I’m not getting how he is the victim either…the only way it could even be construed that way was if someone else made that claim and he just never denied it and let the story “have legs” so to speak…pretty messed up.
IF I am to give Te’o any credit (and that is a BIG IF), here is what I think MAY have happened:
Someone made up the girl. The girl interacted with Te’o online. Te’o carried on an online relationship with her. Then, the person making up the girl lied to Te’o about her dying. Te’o took this online relationship and blew it completely out of proportion. He inflated the love affair and embellished the extent of the relationship. He used her “death,” which he believed to be true, as a feel good story to promote himself. Then, he learned that the girl never existed. Now he is claiming to be the victim of a hoax.
The key here is – he still has fault, assuming (big assumption) this is true b/c he told a lot of b.s. about the relationship.
Another question – ND said they were advised of this “hoax” on Dec 26. If so, why in the hell did they and/or Te’o not get in front of this story???
This is no win for him. If he was duped he’s the dumbest person alive, and if he was in on it, he’s the creepiest person alive.
Crazy. I saw this on PTI, and after reading it believe that te’o was def.in on it!
who cares, really? what is the end result here? he lied? and now …?
I’m sure the NFL will care very much, and any future endorsement deals, etc. This wasn’t a little white lie, this has been playing out in the media for quite a while and he helped perpetuate it.
Best part was one of the comments posted after the Deadspin article:
“Finally, a reason to hate Notre Dame!”.
who cares, really? what is the end result here? he lied? and now …?
Oh I think there is a end result that, no matter what, will end bad for him. He was certainly going to be drafted in the NFL. What team would do that now? (or as high as he was being predicted to be drafted?) Whatever happened, he is emotional weak and unstable
so the real hoax is the use of the term ‘girlfriend’ in a pure online relationship
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According to university spokesman Dennis Brown, "On December 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia.
*The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators." *
It is being reported that Te’o spoke about his “dead girlfriend” at the BCS Championship press conference on 1/3/13, even though he informed ND on 12/26 of the “hoax”
Holy cow, that is an insane story on how far and long it went.
I think JSA has it right…hopefully.
When I was reading that article, I kept thinking of the movie “Catfish” which was a documentary about something similar…basically a made up person on one end of an internet relationship. Actually a good movie (its on netflix) and very interesting…in a creepy way.
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According to university spokesman Dennis Brown, "On December 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia.
*The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators." *
It is being reported that Te’o spoke about his “dead girlfriend” at the BCS Championship press conference on 1/3/13, even though he informed ND on 12/26 of the “hoax”
Would explain why he played so terribly. Busy thinking about how he is about to be exposed as a fool (or liar) in the national media.