Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
The startling revelation hit the media last night that award-winning Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o may have been suckering the Notre Dame family and Americans who have followed his inspirational rise to glory -- when he claimed earlier in the season to have fallen in love with and then tragically lost his girlfriend, a supposed Stanford student, to leukemia, at the same time that his grandmother died.
This girlfriend, it has come to light, never existed. A fictitious girlfriend whose fictional death shocked and grieved Notre Dame students, alumni, and fans so much that they swung leis around their heads at the football stadium to show their sympathetic support for the brave Hawaiian-born, Mormon star linebacker whose heart had, they thought (and may have), been broken twice in one day.
A detailed report by Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey at Deadspin lays out the strange, bizarre and quite shocking story of the hoax and how the sports media, the media in general, Notre Dame fans, football fans, and even those with just a passing interest in college football bought the hoax hook, line and sinker.
At this writing, wagons are circling to defend Manti Te'o, especially those associated with his football career at Notre Dame. But given everything that has been reported about Te'o and the mythical girlfriend, including his first face-to-face meeting (not an online meeting) with her at Stanford in November of 2009 (more than 3 years ago), one must ask: if the report wasn't true at the time it was released to the media, where was Manti Te'o's denial about it or vocal attempts to correct misleading information after it was reported?
What the repercussions of this will be on Mr. Te'o's career or his status at Notre Dame (I would imagine that a few of the Holy Cross fathers may be a tad upset) remain to be seen, but the football star's most recent public statement on the matter serves up more questions than answers, as he now claims to bethe victim of, and not a participant in, an elaborate hoax.
So very, very sad. In the end, the young man may need some help or a comeuppance.
Addendum: Manti Te'o will speak at a press conference tomorrow. The most obvious question will be who the source was of the very detailed account of the first face-to-face meeting with the fictional Lennay Kekua and Manti at the 2009 Stanford / Notre Dame game in Palo Alto; and why his father is quoted as saying that the two later met in Hawai'i and "became a couple".
NOTE: In the interest of fairness and an attempt to be accurate as information has been coming out, I've been editing this posting repeatedly.
Stay tuned.
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Comments:
Dec '11
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Oy, Brian; some of us are still in the throes of despair over Lance Armstrong. I think this sports fan is going to bury her head in the sand and pop back up on February 3.
Edited on January 17, 2013 at 5:50amJul '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
This kind of thing was a weekly event in AOL chat rooms in the late 90s. This should get interesting real fast as people keep digging deeper. Regardless of the outcome, NFL teams are going to want to get to the bottom of this before they hand over millions to a potential headcase.
Jun '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Well, I was thinking of writing a posting about Lance Armstrong under the one-word headline of "Dope" until I heard a snippet about the Manti Te'o story on my way home from work this evening. I think a lot of folks will be reexamining all the file footage on Mr. Te'o - his post game and pre-game interviews and especially everything he said about the girlfriend he says now that he met only online. I think some will want to reexamine his performance in the BCS Championship game to see if he was off his game in that loss and if so, what could explain his performance. His life and his every word will be scrutinized endlessly...and other people involved in the hoax may step forward with attorneys at their side to tell the public what they know...and maybe even what Te'o knew and when he knew it.
Jun '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
The very last sentence in Te'os public statement on being a victim of this hoax:
Interesting that he chose to close with this.
Jul '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Supposedly the Twitter account of the "dead" girlfriend has been reactivated.
Jun '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
The original and very detailed story of Te'o's first face-to-face meeting with the fictional Lennay Kekua published in the South Bend Tribune has been taken down...but is still available on Deseret News (of Salt Lake City) since they reprinted it. In the story Te'os father is quoted as saying:
Who is the source for all this detail? Te'o's father? Te'o himself? Someone else? It's going to unravel before our eyes in the next few days.
May '12
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
As much as I hate Notre Dame, I feel sorry for the kid. All too often the universities, ESPN, media, and NCAA build these kids up into heroes and put them under the bright unforgiving spotlight of fame. Add to that the pressure of playing infront of millions of fans. All done to sell a product; the myth of college football amateurism.
What universities forget is that these athletes are often man-children. They have the physical abilities of men, but the maturity of children.
I really blame the universities and athletic departments foremost. They often do what's in their best interests not the athletes. It's very exploitative, especially emotionally.
Last years very public announcement by USC's Matt Barkley to return to USC is a good example. Instead of quietly announcing his return as a senior, USC made the announcement a big media affair with lots of press, song-girls, and the marching band. They even came up with a slogan, "Unfinished Business" in anticipation of a national championship & Heisman run after the NCAA bowl ban sanctions ended.
USC went 7-6 this year and Barkley was injured.
Jul '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
With Who did Te'o fall asleep on the phone?
Jun '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
The woman as yet has not been identified and in the press conference conducted by Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, the report from the contracted private investigation firm for the present won't be made public. The investigation does indicate that perhaps more than one individual was behind the hoax but according to Swarbrick, how many were involved cannot be determined if some adopted several online personalities.
Jun '12
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Excuse me, why is it our business what they do privately? Why can't he have an imaginary girlfriend?
Jul '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
The problem lies in whether he was the victim or if he was in on it. The "death" was reported during the season and was used as an emotional hook to drum up support for his Heisman bid. If it was actually a stunt he was in on, that would raise serious character issues for a guy who is asking NFL teams to pay him millions.
Mar '11
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
A Stanford student named Leukemia? That should have been a tip-off.
Jun '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Really? You get Leukemia from Lennay Kekua? Really?
May '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Fame is a curse.
Mar '11
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Brian Watt
Really? You get Leukemia from Lennay Kekua? Really? · 0 minutes ago
Nope. Got it from your first sentence.
Jul '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Jim Ixtian: As much as I hate Notre Dame, I feel sorry for the kid. All too often the universities, ESPN, media, and NCAA build these kids up into heroes and put them under the bright unforgiving spotlight of fame. Add to that the pressure of playing infront of millions of fans. All done to sell a product; the myth of college football amateurism.
What universities forget is that these athletes are often man-children. They have the physical abilities of men, but the maturity of children.
I really blame the universities and athletic departments foremost. They often do what's in their best interests not the athletes. It's very exploitative, especially emotionally.
We're as much to blame for making heroes of men of muscle rather than men of virtue. Not that those two are mutually exclusive, but our hero worship is for the muscle part, not the virtue.
Perhaps our culture is just too decadent.
May '11
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Te'o is either a fraud, or pathetic. He does not come off looking good either way.
I wonder if this story is why he seemed to not even be present during the Alabama game.
Jul '10
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Until I see cell phone pictures of Te'o's "girlfriend, I will think Te'o is in on it.
What twenty-something doesn't have cell phone pictures of their boyfriend/girlfriend?
Dec '12
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
Maybe she's a composite girlfriend. He should write a couple of books and run for president.
Mar '11
Re: Notre Dame Football Star Manti Te'o - Hoax Victim?
If the President can have an imaginary girlfriend, then anybody can!
It's the American Way!