Manti Te'o part of conspiracy to fake "fake" girlfriend's death?

[JMarkJohns]

it's all over twitter at the moment. I'll try and copy the link.

[JMarkJohns]

Link: http://deadsp.in/fZ5POJa

Seems like they did their homework.

[ThePop]

This isn't gonna end well for somebody.

[JMarkJohns]

No. The depth the investigative report went to blow up the story means it cannot be without fiction or outright lies. I don't see any way he couldn't be in on this. They milked the tragedy for a long damn time, then let it climax all over the perfect shitstorm to catapult Te'o into the national spotlight in similar fashion to Lin and Tebow.

[TFloss32]

Lance Armstrong is partying like it's 1999.

Dr. Lou has barricaded himself inside his house.

[JMarkJohns]

Yeah, Oprah has to be pretty pissed right now that this broke before her interview aired.

[TFloss32]

Yeah, Oprah has to be pretty pissed right now that this broke before her interview aired.

Nah, she'll offer her services to repair Manti's reputation.

[manufan10]

Notre Dame Statement: Manti Te’o

On Dec. 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.

Dennis Brown
University Spokesman | Assistant Vice President

https://www.facebook.com/FightingIrish/posts/10151543714604705

[Blake]

Lol holy crap

[TFloss32]

From FakeDanBeebe on Twitter:

"In even worse news for Notre Dame fans, Catholicism also revealed as fictional."

:rollin

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Yeah, anyone who reads the full article knows they went way too in depth and the facts align too perfectly for this to not be true.

:lmao:lmao:lmao faking a dead girlfriend

[JMarkJohns]

So he never met the girlfriend he supposedly loved, visited with in Hawaii, conversed with for hours, helped in dire times? Never once met her outside of the Internet? There's no chance. This was Heisman hype. Manti would have to be the most gullible male or most fucked up Mormon ever.

[JMarkJohns]

I was tricked by a friend who's religious crap I helped promote on the same magical interwebs that he lied to me on! I'm not weird for never seeing my girlfriend, even after an accident/coma and bouts of cancer! That's normal for men to never see their dying loves!

[TFloss32]

Yeah, anyone who reads the full article knows they went way too in depth and the facts align too perfectly for this to not be true.

:lmao:lmao:lmao faking a dead girlfriend

Rumor that the girl's Twitter account was run by one of his buddies from home.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Rumor that the girl's Twitter account was run by one of his buddies from home.

Yeah, I know. Like I said I read the article.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

So he never met the girlfriend he supposedly loved, visited with in Hawaii, conversed with for hours, helped in dire times? Never once met her outside of the Internet? There's no chance. This was Heisman hype. Manti would have to be the most gullible male or most fucked up Mormon ever.

:lol if they try to spin this as a fuckin star athlete getting tricked into an online relationship. I hope that happens.

[JMarkJohns]

The article, while long, destroys every possible coincidence and excuse.

[manufan10]

Either he lied or this is the craziest episode of Punk'd ever.

[JMarkJohns]

Doesn't explain the accidents and death, but some speculation he needed a well known, well documented public girlfriend to hide his homosexual preferences from his Mormon and Catholic surroundings.

[TFloss32]

Yeah, I know. Like I said I read the article.

Chill big guy. I didn't read it.

[JamStone]

wowzers

[The Reckoning]

lol 4cc

[LakerHater]

WoW, fuckin WOW!

... & hes claimin to be a Victim!??

[LakerHater]

Maybe hes GAY!?!?

[ColinB]

Fake girlfriend to hide real boyfriend.

[JamStone]

I was thinking the same thing when I was reading the article. Maybe Lennay was the code name for that Ronaiah guy and how they communicated back and forth.

[manufan10]

:lol ESPN, Te'o and ND in full :downspin:mode...

[ThePop]

Where does David Stern fit into all of this?

[Trill Clinton]

Link: http://deadsp.in/fZ5POJa

Seems like they did their homework.

http://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww164/mj-saver/5yvj8o.gif

[LakerHater]

I was thinking the same thing when I was reading the article. Maybe Lennay was the code name for that Ronaiah guy and how they communicated back and forth.

Or Fred Matua who actually died this past Aug!

[Darth_Pelican]

This is strange... I hope the whole real story comes out. Is Te'o really this dumb?

[Trill Clinton]

lance armstrong is somewhere smoking a cigar laughing his ass off.

[manufan10]

"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. It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life. I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been. In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."

[Kori Ellis]

What a freakin' weird story. I'm hoping he's not so dumb that he actually got punk'd from a friend on this. I think he was either in on it from the beginning as an odd publicity stunt, or had a boyfriend who died from car accident/leukemia.

[tlongII]

Te'o is a liar. Nobody is that stupid.

[NFO]

WoW, fuckin WOW!

... & hes claimin to be a Victim!??

Given what we know about Notre Dame, it's easy to understand how they continue to confuse "willing participant" with "victim".

[LakerHater]

Given what we know about Notre Dame, it's easy to understand how they continue to confuse "willing participant" with "victim".
ND is tryin to cover up Homosexuality in a Catholic University!

[leemajors]

Given what we know about Notre Dame, it's easy to understand how they continue to confuse "willing participant" with "victim".

They knew before the New Year and said nothing.

[JamStone]

They knew before the New Year and said nothing.

pretty sure it was a joke about Notre Dame getting crushed in the title game... "willing participant" and "victim"

at least I took it as a shot about the title game

[NFO]

They knew before the New Year and said nothing.

I know. Shocking coming from ND.

[leemajors]

yeah, i still thought it was weird they were mum on it.

[NFO]

pretty sure it was a joke about Notre Dame getting crushed in the title game... "willing participant" and "victim"

at least I took it as a shot about the title game

I was actually referring to this Link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/12/04/why-i-wont-be-cheering-for-old-notre-dame/)

[ace3g]

Johnny Manziel ‏@JManziel2 (https://twitter.com/JManziel2) #MindBlown (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MindBlown&src=hash)

Steve Schneider ‏@Schneider_STL (https://twitter.com/Schneider_STL)
@pink_funk (https://twitter.com/pink_funk) Heisman Finalists: One made up his girlfriend, one didn't kiss his wife until they were married & the winner pic.twitter.com/4ev48UDb (http://t.co/4ev48UDb)

lol

[LakerHater]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8851033/story-manti-teo-girlfriend-death-apparently-hoax

[DesignatedT]

:lmao

[Sisk]

TED ‏@itsrealTED
If you think it's impressive that AJ McCarron's girlfriend was Miss Alabama 2012, Manti Te'o's girlfriend was Miss Narnia 2009, 2010 & 2011.

[Fpoonsie]

Johnny Manziel ‏@JManziel2 (https://twitter.com/JManziel2) #MindBlown (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MindBlown&src=hash)

Steve Schneider ‏@Schneider_STL (https://twitter.com/Schneider_STL)
@pink_funk (https://twitter.com/pink_funk) Heisman Finalists: One made up his girlfriend, one didn't kiss his wife until they were married & the winner pic.twitter.com/4ev48UDb (http://t.co/4ev48UDb)

lol

Fantastic.

[Sisk]

http://i.imgur.com/y8vRR.jpg

[manufan10]

291714068245536768

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

291714068245536768

:lmao

[Clipper Nation]

291714068245536768

It'd be funnier if it was from the real Jadeveon Clowney and not a parody account, tbh... still pretty good though :lol

[Sisk]

Picture version

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAxbLqBCIAEiG66.jpg:large

[NFO]

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb465/bottomofthemap1/07DDA56E-3BE3-4C62-837A-D4CB483FF4F3-15375-00000F8708CFECB8.jpg

[DesignatedT]

:lol

[TFloss32]

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/986/52483747481583958131729.jpg

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

:lmao Jack Swarmdick's press conference.

"Have you seen the show Catfish? That's what happened here!"

Yeah, the show catfish mostly involves an extremely insecure, fat and ugly person falling in love with a picture of someone completely out of their league because a random person is claiming to be the person in the picture. It's not a show about about Heisman trophy candidates less than a year away from being a top 10 pick (at the time) in the NFL draft who women would line up to fuck.

That anecdote about the show Catfish all but confirms the story that Te'o was part of this.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb465/bottomofthemap1/07DDA56E-3BE3-4C62-837A-D4CB483FF4F3-15375-00000F8708CFECB8.jpg

:lmao

[dbreiden83080]

As if his embarrassing performance in the National Title game didn't wreck his draft position enough... :lol

[TFloss32]

http://3432-boston.voxcdn.com/wp-content/thumbnails/featured-thumbnail/e1cf36113004a79_135_90.jpg

[DMX7]

It's not a show about about Heisman trophy candidates less than a year away from being a top 10 pick (at the time) in the NFL draft who women would line up to fuck.


What's his motivation to do this? He seems like the overly-trusting type who would be susceptible to a hoax like this.

[Bill_Brasky]

Based on what I saw in the NC game, I'm beginning to wonder if Manti himself is real.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

What's his motivation to do this? He seems like the overly-trusting type who would be susceptible to a hoax like this.

His motivation to make this up would be to create Heisman buzz for himself as someone who overcame TWO horrific deaths that occurred on the same day (I :cry just thinking about how hard it was for him)

And no, a star linebacker who's a year away from being worth millions and is also a Heisman candidate is not in any way someone who'd be susceptible to a hoax internet relationship. He doesn't fit the profile of someone you see on the show Catfish at all, and the fact Jack Swarmdick tried to say otherwise is an insult to the general public's intelligence.

[Clipper Nation]

What's his motivation to do this? He seems like the overly-trusting type who would be susceptible to a hoax like this.

Te'o probably did it to get Heisman buzz as DOK said, while Notre Dame hopped on to maximize the media attention for their fluke season, increase their profile in the polls, and get a completely undeserving player onto the Heisman stage, tbh....

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Te'o probably did it to get Heisman buzz as DOK said, while Notre Dame hopped on to maximize the media attention for their fluke season, increase their profile in the polls, and get a completely undeserving player onto the Heisman stage, tbh....

This. Seems like the motivation behind it was fairly obvious.

Without the girlfriend death, no one would have given a shit about the fact his grandma died. Someone in his early 20s losing a grandparent is pretty typical, and that event by itself would have been a non-story. His girlfriend dying on the same day is why the story got so much buzz and attention.

[DMX7]

Te'o probably did it to get Heisman buzz as DOK said, while Notre Dame hopped on to maximize the media attention for their fluke season, increase their profile in the polls, and get a completely undeserving player onto the Heisman stage, tbh....

He made up a girlfriend so that he could fake her death later on to help him with the Heisman? Ok...

[manufan10]

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/227641_10151206936357201_1527533271_n.jpg

[Sisk]

http://i49.tinypic.com/wrywck.jpg

[JamStone]

I think being naive and overly trusting is one thing. But we're talking about a guy who had contact with this "girl" based on varying reports for as long as 2-3 years. You develop a "relationship" with a girl online and consider that girl your girlfriend and talk to her for as long as he is alleged to have talked to her, and he doesn't see that person face-to-face in person and doesn't even see her on cam/skype/facetime etc. even once and it's not suspicious at all to him? Whether or not he's a public personality, that's not just naive. That's like stupidiferous.

That's what people are incredulous over. Even people who are well versed in social media and online dating and all that. Those are very huge red flags. And it makes the story wayyyyyy too hard to believe.

[manufan10]

http://i49.tinypic.com/wrywck.jpg

:lmao

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

http://3432-boston.voxcdn.com/files/2013/01/ND_angle-NAVY_Green-480x480.jpg

[ace3g]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAx_gRKCAAE2MKb.jpg:large

[Sisk]

ace :lmao

[manufan10]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAx_gRKCAAE2MKb.jpg:large

:lol Was just about to post this one.

[coyotes_geek]

http://t.qkme.me/3slfvm.jpg

[Sisk]

http://teoing.tumblr.com/

[Sisk]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/58d32aa9378e2d646c96a21248f392d8/tumblr_mgr1ww0HEO1s3b9u6o1_500.jpg
Lennay can never finish her fries!

[TFloss32]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e189/RollTideTA/teo.gif

[DesignatedT]

:lmao

[JMarkJohns]

I would like to thank Te'o for this fuckup since the avalanche of comedy has made my day.

I think the gay theory makes a ton of sense. Not sure why it dying helps. Definitely get the ruse while it was an ongoing gay coverup.

[Sisk]

:lmao tfloss - this is one of the best things to ever happen to the internet

[Sisk]

I agree JMark. Him being gay makes a ton of sense.

[Bill_Brasky]

http://teoing.tumblr.com/

The Clint Eastwood one had me :rollin

[redzero]

http://teoing.tumblr.com/

:lol I was about to post this.

[redzero]

http://i.imgur.com/cQm7K.gif

[JMarkJohns]

Some twitter account from a LennayKay is talking about addressing truths and myths tomorrow. Very weird. Maybe Te'o is the antichrist? Creepy!

[Kori Ellis]

Another weird part of the story:

Reagan Mauia, an Arizona Cardinals fullback, said he believes Kekua existed because he met her in person when he and other Polynesian teammates and Pittsburgh Steelers star Troy Polamalu went to do charity work in American Samoa in June 2011.

"This was before her and Manti," Mauia said Wednesday evening. "I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was -- I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

Mauia said Tuiasosopo -- whom Mauia believes is Kekua's cousin -- introduced the two. After the initial meeting, Mauia said he met her at an "after-party" for all of the athletes involved in the camp.

"She was tall," he said. "Volleyball-type of physique. She was athletic, tall, beautiful. Long hair. Polynesian. She looked like a model ... "

When reached by ESPN.com on Wednesday night, former University of Washington and NFL quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo acknowledged that he is a cousin of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo but said he never had met or heard of Kekua.

Mauia said it is his understanding that Kekua's mother is operating her Twitter account. He said he'd never met her mother. When told by a reporter that she apparently might not have existed, Mauia said: "No, she is real."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8851033/story-manti-teo-girlfriend-death-apparently-hoax

[InRareForm]

some interesting stuff on this twitter timeline

https://twitter.com/justinrmegahan

[JMarkJohns]

This whole thing is odd. She was she real and died? She was a ruse? She wasn't a lie?

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Some twitter account from a LennayKay is talking about addressing truths and myths tomorrow. Very weird. Maybe Te'o is the antichrist? Creepy!

:lol link it!

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Countless people have searched the Stanford Alumni database and can't find kekua. I think if nothing else, it's pretty clear that she wasn't real.

My god this doesn't stop being funny.

[JMarkJohns]

I tried. It showed up as HTML garble. I'll try again.

[InRareForm]

from that twitter account: people joking about it a month ago

https://twitter.com/jayRahz/status/278973792544505858

[JMarkJohns]

An hour ago:

It isn't fair to drag Reagan and Troy into this.. a lot of truths and myths need to be addressed here, and they will be at noon PST tomorrow; L K (@LennayKay)

https://twitter.com/LennayKay/status/291753867438325760

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

:lol Oprah is probably fuming that her interview airing tomorrow will take a total backseat to all of this. Serves her narcissistic ass right for waiting to air the interview in order to milk it.

[JMarkJohns]

Yep. This is story of the year. So weird.

[gaKNOW!blee]

I honestly believe Te'o is just a gullible idiot, but wasn't behind it.

[JMarkJohns]

He'd have to be one hell one a gullible, heartless bastard to believe this person he never met but talked to all the time was his girlfriend but never once went to visit this woman in the many hospital stays.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

The fact Te'o was mormon is the thing that might corroborate his story. If his story is true he would have to be incredibly naive, sheltered, and lacking in street smarts. The only way that would happen is religious indoctrination.

Still, he was Mormon, not Amish :lol

[JMarkJohns]

It's one of the weirdest stories I've ever heard, regardless.

[redzero]

Yep. This is story of the year. So weird.

David Fincher would make a hell of a movie out of it.l

[symple19]

A boatload of awesomeness

Can't wait to see him get cut in training camp next year. The on-field shit-talking material for opposing teams is through the roof, not to mention the fans.

Hopefully Te'o will do the right thing and eat a shotgun

Oh, and fuck ND. They are complicit in this too if they did indeed know sooner and still milked it.

[symple19]

The best comment I saw on the deadspin link:
Wow. All of these Catholics are crazy upset about Lennay not being real. You can only imagine the kind of shitstorm it's going to be when they finally find out about Jesus.

:lmao
:lmao

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

^:lmao

[Clipper Nation]

I think the gay theory makes a ton of sense. Not sure why it dying helps. Definitely get the ruse while it was an ongoing gay coverup.

I don't really see it, tbh... mainly, that's just too much effort to put into being in the closet, tbh.... clearly the fact that he made the rounds in the media with this sob story shows that he was trying to get out the sympathy vote for the Heisman, because his play certainly didn't merit it....

[Clipper Nation]

Looks like salty mad Domers have made their way to the Deadspin article :lol


fuckunions (http://deadspin.com/people/fuckunions) 8 hours ago (http://deadspin.com/5976517/?post=56287614)

Too bad these fucking liberal hacks at Deadspin don't spend as much energy looking into the history of their lord and savior Barrack Obama. Fucking frauds.

[Trainwreck2100]

^:lmao

why are you laughing at that it's just the christianity post reduxed

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

I don't really see it, tbh... mainly, that's just too much effort to put into being in the closet, tbh.... clearly the fact that he made the rounds in the media with this sob story shows that he was trying to get out the sympathy vote for the Heisman, because his play certainly didn't merit it....

Agreed. There were never any rumors/speculation that Te'o was gay, so there'd be no reason to fabricate a girlfriend solely to cover up homosexuality.

[NFO]

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/sites/default/files/images/users/HolyBuckeye1093/HOWDEEPITWENT.jpg

[JudynTX]

The gay theory makes total sense. What a bizarre way to start 2013!

[JoeTait75]

"She died of leukemia. You wouldn't know her."

http://nerdsincourt.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/tumblr_lkpa87c5ox1qi75gqo1_500.jpg

[LnGrrrR]

The local guys here on sports radio talk are really ripping Te'o for this. (He's from Oahu, so there's been a few callers who know him personally trying to stick up for him but they seem to be the only ones...)

[LnGrrrR]

Also, if he ends up dropping a ton, I guess I wouldn't mind if the Patriots got him... :D

[JamStone]

Agreed. There were never any rumors/speculation that Te'o was gay, so there'd be no reason to fabricate a girlfriend solely to cover up homosexuality.

I don't see it as him trying to deny rumors that he was gay. I see it as a way for him to openly talk to his boyfriend without causing suspicions that he's gay. Just for a minute if we hypothetically say he and that Tiuasosopo guy were in a relationship and they were miles apart, and he wanted to communicate with him via social media and say shit like "I miss you," "I wish you were so I could hold you," and "I love you," it would make more sense to do it as a preventative measure from rumors, not to deny existing rumors.

But killing her off doesn't make much sense for the gay theory, I'll stipulate to that. Should just simply "break up" with her.

[JamStone]

Also, if he ends up dropping a ton, I guess I wouldn't mind if the Patriots got him... :D

He might not just drop out of the first round. He could conceivably drop out of the first 3-4 rounds. That's how damaging I think this story could be.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Also, if he ends up dropping a ton, I guess I wouldn't mind if the Patriots got him... :D

I would. The Patriots don't need another unathletic 3-4 ILB who doesn't have a prayer in coverage (I know he has 7 interceptions this year, but he's not good in coverage) and is only good at playing in the box. Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo already fill that role, and neither one has the severe problems Manti Te'o obviously has. Unless he dropped to the late rounds, it wouldn't be worth it when there are athletic linebackers like Ogletree they could take.

[LnGrrrR]

He might not just drop out of the first round. He could conceivably drop out of the first 3-4 rounds. That's how damaging I think this story could be.Tbh, I don't watch college football so I don't really evaluate. But if he was a top 10 talent and he drops to the 2nd/3rd round, sounds like he's worth a flyer. Better than taking another WR in the 2nd round that will flame out.That said, if what DoK says about him is true, no big rush. Too bad he wasn't a good cornerback...

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

I don't see it as him trying to deny rumors that he was gay. I see it as a way for him to openly talk to his boyfriend without causing suspicions that he's gay. Just for a minute if we hypothetically say he and that Tiuasosopo guy were in a relationship and they were miles apart, and he wanted to communicate with him via social media and say shit like "I miss you," "I wish you were so I could hold you," and "I love you," it would make more sense to do it as a preventative measure from rumors, not to deny existing rumors.

But killing her off doesn't make much sense for the gay theory, I'll stipulate to that. Should just simply "break up" with her.
I guess that makes sense, but is showing affection on social media really that important that you'd go to those depths to do so? Seems like keeping the relationship on the phone and off the internet would be a much easier way of handling things.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

He might not just drop out of the first round. He could conceivably drop out of the first 3-4 rounds. That's how damaging I think this story could be.

I agree with this, I think 3-4 round is where he ends up. IMO, there was a good chance he was slipping out of the 1st round because of how bad he was in the national championship game against an NFL level offensive line and RB. ILB is a position teams rarely spend high picks on now to begin with, and they usually don't make exceptions when the player is as bad in coverage as Te'o is or as bad outside of the box as Te'o is. This story just sealed his fate, I wouldn't be surprised to see him slip past 3rd/4th round, but by then there'll be a 3-4 team like Baltimore or NYJ that have a need at ILB where it's worth it.

[Clipper Nation]

I'm still not getting the theory that he's gay.... by that logic, he would have been trying to hide something, but people who are trying to hide something don't usually purposefully say incriminating things about it over and over in the national media....

Imho, the simplest solution is the best solution.... Te'o made this sob story up in order to inflate his Heisman credentials when it comes to :cry intangibles, courage, and heart :cry because he didn't stand a chance of getting it just on numbers and quality of play alone (:lol not even leading his own defense in tackles for loss, sacks, or QB hurries; shitful coverage skills)...

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Imho, the simplest solution is the best solution.... Te'o made this sob story up in order to inflate his Heisman credentials when it comes to :cry intangibles, courage, and heart :cry because he didn't stand a chance of getting it just on numbers and quality of play alone (:lol not even leading his own defense in tackles for loss, sacks, or QB hurries; shitful coverage skills)...

Yeah idk why people are overthinking it with other scenarios when this is the one that makes sense. If this was a homosexuality cover up, he would have tried to downplay it as much as possible so the media would stop paying attention and be less likely to dig into the situation. If this was truly him being extremely naive and having no idea how weird a 2-3 year online relationship is, he also wouldn't have so carefully portrayed it as a normal relationship to the media. He would have told the truth about the relationship out of ignorance.

The way he portrayed everything, and the way he whored this as much as humanly possible as a massive hurdle that he overcame makes the simple solution the likely solution. It's the only storyline that makes sense (well except for the part about someone being narcissistic and crazy enough to fabricate a fake dead girlfriend to pick up Heisman votes, but I've seen more narcissistic behavior before).

[TFloss32]

:lmao tfloss - this is one of the best things to ever happen to the internet

Yes, I've been laughing non-stop since yesterday.

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy80/stonehands78/LouHoltz.jpg

http://memecaptain.com/f7f9ef.jpg

http://memecaptain.com/bb5211.jpg

http://memecaptain.com/d29cad.jpg

[coyotes_geek]

I'm still not getting the theory that he's gay.... by that logic, he would have been trying to hide something, but people who are trying to hide something don't usually purposefully say incriminating things about it over and over in the national media....

Yep. Unless we're supposed to believe that Te'o is so narcissistic and paranoid that he thought everyone who watched him on TV would think he's gay, how would he feel compelled to try and hide that from anyone beyond his teammates and others at Notre Dame? Just tell your teammates that you've got a girlfiend, she's from Canada, and leave it at that. Your teammates would believe you and those of us watching on TV would pretty much just assume that you're up to your eyeballs in college aged pussy just like we assume every other star collegiate athlete is. If the media asks about your personal life, just say I've got a girlfriend but would rather talk about football instead of my personal life.

[leemajors]

i really wish he had won the Heisman now, would be even better

[coyotes_geek]

i really wish he had won the Heisman now, would be even better

If it wouldn't have been at Manziel's expense, I'd agree with you.

[JMarkJohns]

The sob story for Heisman hype is just as curious since this was three years in the making and Te'o wasn't a name before this to even consider him a candidate.

Maybe it's a combination of the preventative gay ruse, and, then when broken up, death was used to not just add finality to the relationship, but drum up hype for a Heisman campaign?

And, the death doesn't make sense in the gay theory from Te'o's perspective, but maybe the death was the others idea to walk away from everything free and clear. It was the "out" clause without risk of outing. Otherwise Te'o never visiting his love in her many hospital stays makes zero sense. My guess is the car accident was supposed to kill the relationship, but they worked through it. Then cancer with a miracle recovery with another working through of problems. Then it ended abruptly, Te'o has no control, there's this windfall of support and hype and he goes along with the swell because he is hurting from a breakup, and he wants to increase his Heisman hype.

If you lived a lie this long, a breakup is pretty equal to death, so all "lies" would be damn near truth in emotive and logician feel.

[JMarkJohns]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/1c074d63e414599a9a3f4270a9962740/tumblr_mgrcwtJsaw1s3b9u6o1_500.png

hahhahhhhhahhahahahahahahahaa

[Darth_Pelican]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/1c074d63e414599a9a3f4270a9962740/tumblr_mgrcwtJsaw1s3b9u6o1_500.png

hahhahhhhhahhahahahahahahahaa

:lmao

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/1c074d63e414599a9a3f4270a9962740/tumblr_mgrcwtJsaw1s3b9u6o1_500.png

hahhahhhhhahhahahahahahahahaa
:lmao

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Tbh I thought this would be funny when it popped into my head, but it's not that funny looking at it on paper. Still worth posting tbh.

http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s590/dokike1/forrestgump-feather1_zpsc5df765a-1_zps23ca6968.jpg

[Blake]

http://preview.images.memegenerator.net/Instance/Preview?imageID=2055789&generatorTypeID=&panels=&text0=I%20found%20out%20Mante%20was%20cheating%20o n%20me&text1=with%20a%20real%20guy.&text2=&text3=

[JamStone]

The sob story for Heisman hype is just as curious since this was three years in the making and Te'o wasn't a name before this to even consider him a candidate.

Maybe it's a combination of the preventative gay ruse, and, then when broken up, death was used to not just add finality to the relationship, but drum up hype for a Heisman campaign?

And, the death doesn't make sense in the gay theory from Te'o's perspective, but maybe the death was the others idea to walk away from everything free and clear. It was the "out" clause without risk of outing. Otherwise Te'o never visiting his love in her many hospital stays makes zero sense. My guess is the car accident was supposed to kill the relationship, but they worked through it. Then cancer with a miracle recovery with another working through of problems. Then it ended abruptly, Te'o has no control, there's this windfall of support and hype and he goes along with the swell because he is hurting from a breakup, and he wants to increase his Heisman hype.

If you lived a lie this long, a breakup is pretty equal to death, so all "lies" would be damn near truth in emotive and logician feel.

You guys have convinced me off of the gay theory. I think it's still a possibility, but some of the arguments stated here seem convincing. Perhaps it was a combination thing also. As you suggest, maybe it started as a gay cover-up and then when the lie started picking up steam, it kind of just snowballed into what it is now and later on the Heisman angle was a convenient side story to all of it.

I don't have a link, but I also just heard on Detroit sports talk radio that there is a report by a Notre Dame football player or players who knew about that something suspicious was going on, that Manti was having relations with other girls on campus (helps debunk the gay theory), and that at least some of the ND players were kind of pissed about the story getting so public, because they knew this "girl" wasn't really his girlfriend at least to the extent the media stories were making her to be, and that some ND players refused and told students to refuse to wear leis in support of Te'o because they knew it was basically a ruse and publicity stunt. Again, I heard it on sports talk radio so I have no link to confirm.

[JMarkJohns]

Te'o could just as easily be bi as gay, and in the eyes of religions, bi means gay. There's also a long history of self-hating or in-denial gay men having as much hetero-normal behavior to protest/protect their homosexual thoughts, actions, tendencies, lifestyle.

It was a very public relationship on public accessible websites, so when "death" occurred, outside sources picked up on it, and in the greater context of his grandmother's loss, beatified Te'o to the point he had no choice but to go along, if not embrace it to either further convince himself and/or others of his hetero-normative preferences.

[LnGrrrR]

Every radio host on the island is talking about this today... but Sam the Man and Hawaiian Ryan had the best take on it:

(Paraphrased)
Sam the Man: It's like half the people think he's innocent and the other half he's guilty.
Hawaiian Ryan: And some people think he's gay.
Sam the Man: Yeah, and that.
Hawaiian Ryan: People think he's either innocent, he's in on it, or he's in... something else.

[LnGrrrR]

Wouldn't it be crazy if he outed himself before the draft? Would he immediately become a hero to certain communities? Would he be the first najor American athlete to out himself while playing? ESPN would blow up if that were the case...

[JMarkJohns]

He needs to address how she's real to others, how his father swears they'd seen each other on the island, why he'd never video chat, and how he could love someone and never visit them in any of the multiple hospital stays.

Without this, I'm pretty convinced he's gay, or bi, or at least emotionally bi, and used this ruse to publicly deflect any suspicion to the fact, then, when an innocent "death" breakup got out of control, he was forced to either admit the ruse, or play along, ultimately succumbing to his own media hype, contributing to it through his strategic beatification for a strategic end of the Heisman, a top NFL draft selection, and to further cover up his non-hetero-normative tendencies through the idea that the best way to go unnoticed is to look in the same direction as everyone else.

The idea ultimately just involved too many people, including non-participating parties, and got too convoluted to hold together once logic started poking around at it.

[NFO]

More bad news for Teo. Coach Kelly just infromed him that the Leprechaun is not real and that he is just a student at Notre Dame dressed up in a costume. Kid can't catch a break.

[CubanMustGo]

How does this level of (alleged) stupidity rate on the Wonderlic test they give potential draftees, anyway?

[JMarkJohns]

Proof Te'o is gay? Wait for party with the leprechauns.

cWmpGhIZJWw

[Riddler]

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/320948_10151324711483643_1258044952_n.jpg

[Riddler]

Alabama Crimson Tide
@RollTide Manti Te'o wasn't missing tackles in the National Championship, he was hugging his girlfriend.


Jadeveon Clowny
@JadeveonClowny If you having girl problems I feel bad for you son Manti Teo has 99 problems but a girl ain't one.


Faux John Madden
@FauxJohnMadden On the bright side for Manti Te'o, his relationship was probably better than any Taylor Swift has had.



Daniel MacEachern danMacEachern Manti Te'o might see his draft prospects drop but he should probably be No. 1 in the fantasy draft.


Scott Rabalais scottRabalais Having covered the #BCS championship game, I have my doubts whether Manti Te'o exists, too

[Riddler]

Todd Jones @Todd_Jones (https://twitter.com/Todd_Jones) Te'o told she wasn't real Dec. 6. Te'o said Dec. 8: "I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer."

[The Reckoning]

http://i45.tinypic.com/r89el2.jpg


already posted but still funny nonetheless

[manufan10]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAw7rvkCYAAqse5.png:large

[Darth_Pelican]

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/ericg320/Mantigirl.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8333/8388799656_e9a9e43077.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/thenoleman/Tiger%20Droppings/Manti1_zpseebb100b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/nursetpd/Notre%20Dame/Manti_Teo_Online.gif

[manufan10]

"On Dec. 4, another Twitter account — with this story, we hesitate to call JayRahz another person — indicated that Lennay’s existence was a hoax."

http://twitchy.com/2013/01/17/multiple-twitter-accounts-exposed-manti-teo-fake-girlfriend-hoax-in-early-december/

[DesignatedT]

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/541798_10200172154884202_1845417837_n.jpg

[ColinB]

L K ‏@LennayKay (https://twitter.com/LennayKay) My statement: This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but I have been told by Alabama's offense that Manti Te'o is not real.

[redzero]

I'm just not buying the excuses. This guy could get any girl he wanted at Notre Dame, so I just don't buy that he would he be tricked for three entire years by somebody on the Internet. I also don't think he would go through all this trouble for a beard. He could get some random girl to be his beard with no problem, and he wouldn't have to resort to any Internet relationships.

It seems like he is just lying to cover his ass.

[ginobili's bald spot]

L K ‏@LennayKay (https://twitter.com/LennayKay) My statement: This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but I have been told by Alabama's offense that Manti Te'o is not real.


Wait...what? That is her real fake twitter account? And now its talking shit about him? I'm so confused this is such a mind fuck.


This might possibly be the greatest troll job in the history of humanity.

[ginobili's bald spot]

I thought it was the real fake account since he tweeted to it but apparently its a fake fake account. Nothing to see here. He's still a lying piece of shit.

[DesignatedT]

http://www.sportspickle.com/opinion/15214/johnny-manziel-is-letting-manti-teo-borrow-some-of-his-real-girlfriends

[gambit1990]

espn comment:

Things Manti Teo doesn't have:
1. Heisman Trophy
2. National Championship
3. Girlfriend
4. Integrity

[Blake]

Things ESPN doesn't have:

1. Fact checkers

[Skyapples]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130117/manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-quotes/#ixzz2IH0vIoeW

SI transcript from Thamel's interview

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

:lmao that twitter announcement is fuckin hilarious

[FkLA]

Whats the Toiasosopos involvement in this anyway? This fucking story makes no sense tbh.

[NFO]

http://www.terezowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/BAxc-YSCcAAjUYc.jpg-large-500x668.jpeg

[manufan10]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BA2Kff7CUAAccVB.jpg:large

[Sisk]

http://www.sportspickle.com/opinion/15214/johnny-manziel-is-letting-manti-teo-borrow-some-of-his-real-girlfriends

:lmao

[NFO]

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/318007_10151638343079966_656409749_n.jpg

[coyotes_geek]

While not saying that Manti Te'o participated in or knew about the hoax that his girlfriend did not exist, a former teammate told ESPN's Bob Holtzman on Wednesday that players knew the woman wasn't really his girlfriend even though Te'o played that up as his tragic story was being told.

In September, the grandmother of Te'o died, and it was widely reported that his girlfriend died hours later. Media outlets pounced on the story as Notre Dame began its march to the title game. After Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, however, multiple media reports have said players thought that Te'o had only met Lennay Kekua once and that it wasn't really accurate to call her his girlfriend. But as condolences poured in, Te'o "played along," according to the teammate, who wished to remain anonymous.

The teammate portrayed the move as part of the All-American's personality, telling ESPN that Te'o liked attention so much that he would sometimes point himself out to friends when he was on television.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8854472/teammate-manti-teo-says-player-played-girlfriend-angle

[Sisk]

Way off topic, but anyone know who this is?

http://gifsforum.com/images/gif/sexy/grand/sexy_gif_51000002.gif
TIA

[The Reckoning]

funny thread but the aggie memes suck

[The Reckoning]

see now if you made one with te'o phoning his gf and manziel with the firework in his mouth was on the other line...thatd be funny shit

[ColinB]

Way off topic, but anyone know who this is?

http://gifsforum.com/images/gif/sexy/grand/sexy_gif_51000002.gif
TIA

Elisa Bagordo

[monosylab1k]

Way off topic, but anyone know who this is?

http://gifsforum.com/images/gif/sexy/grand/sexy_gif_51000002.gif
TIA

Pretty sure thats one of those Pussy Riot bitches

[NFO]

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/36522_10151191955133344_407505428_n.jpg

[Sisk]

Thanks Colin :tu

[JMarkJohns]

ESPN bringin' em out to say Te'o is an innocent victim. All place blame on the heartless Tuiasosopo for masterminding the ruse over many years, with many victims.

Basically, everyone is essentially saying Manti is one of the most gullible asshats on earth, who let himself get emotionally invested in a literal stranger, then played up the loss for his own gain.

[2centsworth]

anyone who believes Teo's version of the story needs to be thrown in prison for being so Freakin Stupid.

[jeebus]

Basically, everyone is essentially saying Manti is one of the most gullible asshats on earth, who let himself get emotionally invested in a literal stranger, then played up the loss for his own gain.

It's either that or go with the real story, that Manti made it all up on his own to curry favor and sympathy with the fans/media/etc.

[JMarkJohns]

It's all too convenient that this happened before, to so many others, and that the mastermind is unavailable. Catholic pockets run deep. But it's not like the Catholic Church would be a part of a coverup.

[LakerHater]

So now he hada real girlfriend??? Or are they both helpin each othr cover up their homosexuality!
http://bustedcoverage.com/2013/01/18/alexandra-del-pilar-with-santa-photos/

[NFO]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/nursetpd/Notre%20Dame/Manti_Teo_Online.gif

[ace3g]

http://deadspin.com/5977154/

[LakerHater]

Theyre jus needin a fall guy!

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

So more ocean gooks come out and say their cousin was conned in 2008, and that they knew Te'o was hoaxed the second they saw the name Lennay Kekua in September, yet they didn't bother to start making noise about it until now? All it would have taken was a call/email from them to media outlets telling their story, at least one media outlet would at the very least do some digging, quickly figure out Kekua didn't exist, and the story would have been blown up at the time.

But of course, they waited to come out and talk about their cousin after this story was already blown open and when Te'o needs people to corroborate his story. I wonder why.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

It's all too convenient that this happened before, to so many others, and that the mastermind is unavailable. Catholic pockets run deep. But it's not like the Catholic Church would be a part of a coverup.

And those so many others claim to have known this was fishy from the start but are only coming out now :lol

I didn't think of it as a possibility at first, but Notre Dame might actually be a part of this cover up.

[Bill_Brasky]

So more ocean gooks come out and say their cousin was conned in 2008, and that they knew Te'o was hoaxed the second they saw the name Lennay Kekua in September, yet they didn't bother to start making noise about it until now? All it would have taken was a call/email from them to media outlets telling their story, at least one media outlet would at the very least do some digging, quickly figure out Kekua didn't exist, and the story would have been blown up at the time.

But of course, they waited to come out and talk about their cousin after this story was already blown open and when Te'o needs people to corroborate his story. I wonder why.

ESPN trying so desperately to :downspin: this shit is pathetic.

[JMarkJohns]

That Henry David Thoreau quote about living life as you imagine it has never been taken more literally.

[UZER]

Wouldn't it be crazy if he outed himself before the draft? Would he immediately become a hero to certain communities? Would he be the first najor American athlete to out himself while playing? ESPN would blow up if that were the case...

I told my friend the exact same thing. I said he's gonna come out and he will be the first well known gay athlete. And he's gonna spin how hard it is for gay athletes to be who they are and this is the trouble they have to go through for fear of being ridiculed. Then he will go from villain to hero overnight because who dare criticize a gay athlete. Never mind that he played the whole nation like a violin. It will be his get out of jail free card.

[symple19]

New angle... What does this say about him as an NFL prospect? Do you want a braindead dipshit in the middle of your LB core making snap decisions on coverages and trust him to maintain gap discipline? Do you want a mentally weak/fragile island jig on your defense in December, on the road, with the playoffs on the line? What if a 6'6" tackle is making comments about his imaginary girlfriend, his dead granny, and his magic fruit of the looms?

Why would anybody draft this fuck after this? I don't deny that he's an okay athlete, but if you take into consideration the way he melted away against Bama, under pressure from both the game and his ruse/being duped, then you can see just what a spotlight-loving, mentally retarded, mormon fuckstick this guy actually is.

I simply cannot wait to see him fail on the next level, because we all know some team is going to roll the dice.

[symple19]

I bet this dude is curled up in the fetal position somewhere, sucking away on his thumb and mewling the word "Why" over and over again


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stfBPzmHm70

[InRareForm]

ESPN is a joke

[2centsworth]

The latest from Teo is that he continued the hoax after his supposed dead girlfriend called him is because his imaginary girlfriend said she faked her death to avoid drug dealers. hahahahahahaha

[JMarkJohns]

The latest from Teo is that he continued the hoax after his supposed dead girlfriend called him is because his imaginary girlfriend said she faked her death to avoid drug dealers. hahahahahahaha

So with some saying she's real, some saying she's fake, what the fuck is going on?!

[LakerHater]

Moments ago, off camera!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BA8QlN7CUAAjGBD.jpg (http://www.spurstalk.com//twitter.com/ESPNprDScott/status/292470732372463616/photo/1/large)

[ace3g]

looks like ESPN will have an interview with him later tonight

ESPNprDScott (https://twitter.com/ESPNprDScott) David Scott 8m (https://twitter.com/ESPNprDScott/status/292470732372463616)
PHOTO: @JeremySchaap (https://twitter.com/JeremySchaap) and Manti Te'o w/attorney during interview. Details on @SportsCenter (https://twitter.com/SportsCenter) after Dal/OKC. pic.twitter.com/8OgQuSR3 (http://t.co/8OgQuSR3)

[manufan10]

292477040404353025

[gambit1990]

the sooner he comes clean the sooner this goes away. there is no way he was duped.

[JMarkJohns]

If you have nothing to hide, you have no need for a lawyer.

[Pelicans78]

I told my friend the exact same thing. I said he's gonna come out and he will be the first well known gay athlete. And he's gonna spin how hard it is for gay athletes to be who they are and this is the trouble they have to go through for fear of being ridiculed. Then he will go from villain to hero overnight because who dare criticize a gay athlete. Never mind that he played the whole nation like a violin. It will be his get out of jail free card.

Even if he's not gay, he should just throw the gay card out there and come out of the closet because he doesn't have much else to lose. This could be his saving grace back into stardom and hero.

[LakerHater]

Teo to ESPN: "I want faking it. I wasn't a part of this. When (people) hear the facts, they'll know," he said. "They'll know that there is no way that I could be part of this."

[InRareForm]

Why is there a need for a lawyer? Theres no money involved so.What law was broken??

[symple19]

If you have nothing to hide, you have no need for a lawyer.

Bingo

[InRareForm]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/01/18/manti-teo-hoax-ronaiah-tuiasosopo/1846949/

Te'o's fake girlfriend's 'history' parallels Tuiasosopo

[LakerHater]

He sounds like this is set up for a fall guy & hes acceptin NO blame!

[Will Hunting]

I'm 100% convinced he was a part of this, but I'm also 100% the real truth will never be revealed as it's obvious he has several people ready to help him out and also has ESPN in his back pocket. Hopefully karma catches up and his NFL career flops, because he's never gonna have to publicly admit he was involved in this.

[JMarkJohns]

Tui = lover

Maybe the December calls were from a disgruntled Tui seeking the soon to exist financials of Te'o? That type of shakedown would explain a massive coverup. If Notre Dame wanted to evade embarrassment, perhaps they paid Tui off since he's disappeared? All those people "joking" about Lennay on twitter could have been laughing at the ruse on the public and not on Te'o?

This is too odd for a normal conclusion.

[Sisk]

On twitter, in reference to him saying the truth coming out:


@tsnmike
(https://twitter.com/tsnmike)"When people hear the facts ..." You're sitting with a reporter whose reach is 100 million homes. What are you waiting for?

[JMarkJohns]

Exactly. It's already been six weeks since the resurrection. The truth isn't hard to tell. A good lie, on the other hand, sometimes it requires a fugue state and a naked traipsing down a New Mexico convenience store aisle to sound convincing. Lies are fucking complicated!

[LakerHater]

Manti Te'o to ESPN: "I knew it was crazy that I was with somebody I didn't meet."

Te'o said he wasn't convinced Kekua wasn't real until two days ago.

Fuuuuuck, thayre buyin everything hes sayin! Schaap even goes as far as to say "If you pay attention.....!"

[JMarkJohns]

He does a great job of passively admitting he misrepresented the significance of the relationship through exaggeration and inference that they met, were closer than they really were, and letting public opinion dictate how he shaped the relational creation.

[Sisk]

Fuck this guy tbh. A liar who continues to try to deceive people. Oprah should just line up an interview with this guy 4 years in the future when he finally admits he's a piece of shit.

[symple19]

Straight bullshit. This dude is unbelievable

[JMarkJohns]

Why is Schapp so surprised that a potential pathological liar is convincing in his lies?

[Sisk]

Hopefully Te'o will do the right thing and eat a shotgun


I thought you were a bit crazy at first when you said this. Not anymore.

Fuck this guy.

[Will Hunting]

Te'o is just covering his own ass. The really unbelievable behavior is the depths ESPN is going to to help Te'o cover for himself.

[Sisk]

Schapp is there because he's a nice guy. I love Schapp. But he's a pussy. He wont ask the hard ball questions or force answers out of him. Schapp conducted the interview for that reason alone.

[LakerHater]

ESPN- Wednesday, Deadspin.com posted a story detailing an online relationship Te'o thought he had with "Lennay Kekua," which he says he learned was a hoax. Te'o spoke at the IMG Training Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where he is preparing for the NFL draft. There were no cameras at the interview, which was recorded.
Te'o said he didn't know for sure that Kekua never existed until two days ago, when Tuiasosopo called Te'o and admitted he was behind the hoax.
In the interview, Te'o also said that:

• He lied to his father about having met Kekua, prompting his father to tell reporters that the two had met. Several media stories indicated that he and Kekua had met. Te'o insisted they never did.
• He tried to speak with Kekua via Skype and FaceTime on several occasions, but the person at the other end of the line was in what he called a "black box" and wasn't seen.
• The first time he met Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was after Notre Dame beat USC on Nov. 24. Tuiasosopo is the man Deadspin and others have said was behind the hoax. Earlier Friday, ESPN's "Outside The Lines" reported that Tuiasosopo called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping Te'o. The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated.

Te'o spoke of Kekua as his girlfriend several times after Dec. 6. One was at the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York on Dec. 8 to ESPN's Chris Fowler. Another was on ESPN Radio the same day. There were two other times, including a column in the Los Angeles Times on Dec. 10. He was also asked about it at a Jan. 3 news conference before the BCS title game but did not refer to his "girlfriend" directly.
Te'o said he "catered" his stories so people would think he "met her before she passed away."
"I knew that -- I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet," he said. "And that alone people find out that this girl who died I was so invested in, and I didn't meet her as well."

[SpursRock20]

Does anyone actually believe Manti Te'o?

[Will Hunting]

Why is Schapp so surprised that a potential pathological liar is convincing in his lies?

"He was so calm! No nervousness or anything!"

It's not like someone who's a borderline sociopath is capable of lying with ease!

My god this guy Schaap is such a pussy. Try to make it less obvious your agenda was to pitch softball questions in an interview to someone you're trying to protect next time.

[Will Hunting]

Does anyone actually believe Manti Te'o?

From the get go ESPN decided they're gonna believe him and not bother to find the truth.

[timvp]

If Te'o was trolling the media, this might be the greatest troll of media of all time. Use the media to help you try to win the Heisman. Play dumb and then use the media as protection as you back out of it.

I would say that it would have been an even better troll if he never got caught ... but is that right? I think his escape from the controversy could be even better than the initial troll job.

Respec'.

[thunderup]

Does anyone actually believe Manti Te'o?
No.

[SpursRock20]

Van Gundy probably going to get a "talking to" from ESPN. He's the only one on ESPN that's said the story doesn't make sense, basically.

[Sisk]

The glory of the internet, though, is that ESPN cannot get away with covering this up. The truth will come out unless the guy who ran the account is paid off big time. If he isn't, the truth will come out eventually... could be years (doubtful), but it will.

[Will Hunting]

:lmao I'm watching Schaap on sportscenter right now, Te'o needed a lawyer to interview with this cuckold? :lmao:lmao

[Will Hunting]

If Te'o was trolling the media, this might be the greatest troll of media of all time. Use the media to help you try to win the Heisman. Play dumb and then use the media as protection as you back out of it.

I would say that it would have been an even better troll if he never got caught ... but is that right? I think his escape from the controversy could be even better than the initial troll job.

Respec'.

It's less of a good troll job from Te'o and more an example of how pathetic/corrupt journalism has gotten in this country.

[symple19]

Thing is, either way he's despicable. Either he's so naive and braindead (while attending a top-notch academic school) that he would believe in and love a girl that he had never met nor even video-chatted with, or he perpetuated a lie in cahoots with another scumbag to propel himself into the spotlight.

The dude should cease to exist, along with Lance Armstrong. There is simply no excuse for this behavior.

And this is why I brought up his draft status. Why would anybody want this fucker? His mental state is compromised in both directions. No way he can be trusted in the middle of the field, no matter the scheme.

Furthermore, it speaks to the institutional delusion which Notre Dame clings to no matter the circumstances. They should have distanced themselves immediately instead of sending their AD out to fellate Teo. No way in hell that ND is clean coming out of this.

[symple19]

I thought you were a bit crazy at first when you said this. Not anymore.

Fuck this guy.

I am a bit crazy, fwiw

[symple19]

It's less of a good troll job from Te'o and more an example of how pathetic/corrupt journalism has gotten in this country.

No fucking doubt

[Will Hunting]

Thing is, either way he's despicable. Either he's so naive and braindead (while attending a top-notch academic school) that he would believe in and love a girl that he had never met nor even video-chatted with, or he perpetuated a lie in cahoots with another scumbag to propel himself into the spotlight.

The dude should cease to exist, along with Lance Armstrong. There is simply no excuse for this behavior.

And this is why I brought up his draft status. Why would anybody want this fucker? His mental state is compromised in both directions. No way he can be trusted in the middle of the field, no matter the scheme.

Furthermore, it speaks to the institutional delusion which Notre Dame clings to no matter the circumstances. They should have distanced themselves immediately instead of sending their AD out to fellate Teo. No way in hell that ND is clean coming out of this.

In addition to all this about his personality, his ceiling simply isn't that high. He's very limited in coverage and has mediocre speed (at best) for a linebacker. I see him being similar to Brandon Spikes (who was just as much of a monster in college as Te'o was but didn't fabricate a sob story to go along with it), possibly worse since he's not as big as Spikes but maybe better since he's not as stupid (I think) as Spikes is. I think there was a chance of him slipping out of the first BEFORE this whole thing, with it I'd be surprised if he's picked before the 3rd/4th rounds.

[DesignatedT]

Te'o has been sitting down with his lawyer these last 2 days reciting every damn question.

[symple19]

In addition to all this about his personality, his ceiling simply isn't that high. He's very limited in coverage and has mediocre speed (at best) for a linebacker. I see him being similar to Brandon Spikes, possibly worse since he's not as big as Spikes but maybe better since he's not as stupid (I think) as Spikes is. I think there was a chance of him slipping out of the first BEFORE this whole thing, with it I'd be surprised if he's picked before the 3rd/4th rounds.

We also saw how terrible he is at stopping the run, wrapping up, and maintaining gap discipline against Bama. And the Tide are the closest thing you're gonna see to a prototypical, pro-set, NFL look in College. He was atrocious. Frankly, his performance is even worse when you consider how badly he wilted under the pressure, even if his physical tools would allow for a better showing had he brought his "A" game.

[Will Hunting]

We also saw how terrible he is at stopping the run, wrapping up, and maintaining gap discipline against Bama. And the Tide are the closest thing you're gonna see to a prototypical, pro-set, NFL look in College. He was atrocious. Frankly, his performance is even worse when you consider how badly he wilted under the pressure, even if his physical tools would allow for a better showing had he brought his "A" game.
Yeah that game makes me believe he'd be even worse than Spikes. Spikes is a big enough physical presence to play SILB and control gaps, Te'o looked like a huge pussy who would need to play WILB with a physical presence next to him who can plug all the holes so he can make tackles unblocked.

Like Spikes, his ceiling was discovered leading up to the draft when he looked like a 1st round talent his entire senior season. This incident makes him a 3rd/4th rounder, imo.

[symple19]

Te'o has been sitting down with his lawyer these last 2 days reciting every damn question.

This is what I don't understand... If you've been duped, come out and honestly talk about how stupid you were. America is great at forgiving and showering respect on those who admit mistakes. The only way you need a lawyer is if you have shit to hide.

[LakerHater]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPeS-aodj_A

[Stringer_Bell]

1) Manti's grandma died and that in itself was an emotional story that was inspiring to people...but he chose to pimp his imaginary girlfriend story over his real life grandma. Why? No idea, but it's strange - and that's just the start...
2) Manti gave a really heartfelt interview about all the great things his imaginary girlfriend did and why she was so special not just to him but for other people - it was so honest and eloquent, the exact opposite of what he sounds like 99% of the time when he's interviewed.
3) Does anyone really believe that a young male, regardless of social status and athletic ability, would ever throw himself 100% into a "relationship" where he's never even HELD or KISSED a bitch? No way, that is completely illogical.
4) Manti's draft stock will not drop - other guys have done much worse, and other than being a pathological liar, he'll be just fine in the NFL.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

1) Manti's grandma died and that in itself was an emotional story that was inspiring to people...but he chose to pimp his imaginary girlfriend story over his real life grandma. Why? No idea, but it's strange - and that's just the start...

He pimped his dead fake girlfriend because his grandma dying wasn't much of a story in and of itself.

Someone in his 20s loses a grandma who was in her 70s is pretty much par for the course. That's what old people do, they die. If he tried to pimp that story too much the media wouldn't have had much of it.

[leemajors]

It's less of a good troll job from Te'o and more an example of how pathetic/corrupt journalism has gotten in this country.

Except for Deadspin's work on this story..

Schaap shoulda asked him if he meant "forever ever?" :lol

[manufan10]

It's less of a good troll job from Te'o and more an example of how pathetic/corrupt journalism has gotten in this country.

This. The fact that no one verified any part of the story is mind boggling. Never checked in to the "accident" or her "death." The media just ate it up without a second thought.

BTW, after reading the transcript of his interview with Sports Illustrated, the whole accident scene sounds like it's straight out of a movie. Everything just miraculously happened. It sounded too contrived, yet they never tried to corroborate his story.

[Vito Corleone]

Firstg let me say I have gotten so much entertainment out of this story, I hope it goes on for such a long time.

But with that said,

To me, it really isn't much of a story. If anything it's not really about a guy who got catfished, lied, or is gay, it's about how bad our media is for letting it get so far without someone doing his due diligence. That to me is the biggest story, how can our media let him get aways with this for so long.

Are people lying, Hell yea they are, but it's the media's job to find the truth and call him out on it, if that isn't happening we should stop using those media outlets because they suck at their job.

What I know about Mormons, this could be a big catfish job. What I know about Samoans, this could be one big lie. I just want the media to actually start doing their job.

[InRareForm]

Why is ESPN so wanting to let Te'o off the hook here?

[leemajors]

Why is ESPN so wanting to let Te'o off the hook here?

they helped pump him up and did zero research of any sort

[JMarkJohns]

Every media outlet wants him to be innocent so they aren't guilty of being manipulatively used to such an extent. If it was an innocent snafu, it's an innocent snafu all the way around. A manipulation, then ESPN is guilty of failing to fact check an outright lie.

[manufan10]

When Notre Dame mobilized on Wednesday night to characterize the Manti Te’o fake dead girlfriend hoax as something for which Te’o had no responsibility, the effort included a press conference from Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, who declared among other things that the university’s ultimate conclusions were based on a report from a private investigation firm that had rolled up its sleeves and gotten to the truth.
Apparently, no sleeves were rolled in the making of the report.
According to the South Bend Tribune, a university spokesman admits that the investigators conducted no interviews (http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbt-investigating-the-hoax-20130119,0,2728454.story?page=1). The firm didn’t interview Te’o or his family. The firm didn’t attempt to contact the admitted perpetrator of the hoax, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
The firm didn’t examine cell phone records to confirm Te’o's claim of eight-hour phone conversations with the person posing as Lennay Kekua. The firm also didn’t look at emails or other electronic communications that would demonstrate the length and extent of the communications between Te’o and the person(s) playing the role of Kekua.
If pressed, Notre Dame would surely claim that those steps weren’t needed because the smoking gun was found by searching the Internet and other public sources. If forced to tell the whole truth, Notre Dame likely would say the investigators were instructed to do nothing that would increase the chances of the story being leaked and in turn reported before the January 7 BCS national title game. Once interviews begin, other names are mentioned. To be complete, those people need to be interviewed, too. Eventually, the interviews could have included someone who would have blabbed about the situation to the media.
Of course, an interview with Te’o wouldn’t have done that. Instead, the investigators presumably received whatever notes Swarbrick created during his possible kid-gloves meetings with Te’o.
And so Notre Dame’s proclamation that no laws were broken was made without the benefit of Te’o's uncle’s suspicions (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/18/teos-uncle-takes-aim-at-ronaiah-tuiasosopo/) about Tuiasosopo’s financial incentives, or Te’o's claim that at one point he was asked to provide checking account numbers, a clear sign that there was an attempt to turn something that supposedly was sport into profit.
“Early on, she said that she was going to send me money, actually,” Te’o told ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap. “And she wanted to send it and she wanted to directly deposit it into my account. So she wants to know my checking account number, which I didn’t give her. . . . I’m not giving my checking account number. I don’t care who you are. I’m not giving my checking account number out to you. Then she went on and asked my best friend, Robby. Hey, Rob, I want to help you guys out with groceries or help you guys pay for the bills for the house. I’ve saved up some money, you know. Give me your checking account number, and I’ll put it in there. . . . I told him, whatever you do, do not give out your checking account number.”
Te’o said that the “red flag” went away when he was told by the student credit union that someone who wants to put money in to his account couldn’t take money out with the account numbers. But then he didn’t provide the numbers, even though he no longer believed money could be taken from his account.
Still, the “national” firm Notre Dame hired didn’t even know about the potential red flag, because the firm didn’t ask Te’o about that. Or anything else. Or anyone else.
So the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is still out there. Between the suspicions regarding Tuiasosopo and the attempt to get Te’o's checking account numbers, there’s enough evidence to justify exploration of the situation by the appropriate officials. If the appropriate officials are so inclined.
If they’re not, we’d love to know why. A major goal of the criminal justice system is deterrence. And there’s no better way to deter crime than to fight it in the context of a high-profile case.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/20/notre-dames-teo-investigation-was-lacking-in-many-respects/

[Sisk]

Are people lying, Hell yea they are, but it's the media's job to find the truth and call him out on it,

No, it's not their job to find the truth. It's the media's job to get ratings, that's it. They don't give a fuck about the truth.

[Sisk]

OMG has anyone here actually met Amy Duncan?

She "babysat" me in like 1998. True story.

[manufan10]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18c3fktfp1jnvjpg/xlarge.jpg



http://deadspin.com/5977438/the-dallas-stars-showed-an-empty-chair-on-the-jumbotron-identified-it-as-manti-teos-girlfriend?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitte r&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18c3fktfp1jnvjpg/xlarge.jpg



http://deadspin.com/5977438/the-dallas-stars-showed-an-empty-chair-on-the-jumbotron-identified-it-as-manti-teos-girlfriend?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitte r&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

:lmao:lmao:lmao

[leemajors]

http://deadspin.com/5977416/notre-dames-lennay-kekua-investigation-basically-consisted-of-a-few-guys-using-google-and-nexis


The investigation ordered by Notre Dame was limited to the electronic search, [spokesman Dennis] Brown said. Investigators did not interview Te'o or his family, nor did anyone attempt to contact Ronaiah Tuiasosopo or any of his relatives.

In response to questions, university officials said the investigators did not examine cell phone records, e-mails or other electronic communication to determine the length or extent of Te'o's communication over the past few years with the person claiming to be Lennay Kekua, nor did the university ask Te'o to take a lie detector test.

:lmao

[LakerHater]

Manti Te'o agrees to on-camera interview with Katie Couric!

[JMarkJohns]

Produce evidence. That's all. Phone records, emails, private messages. Prove you believed the relationship was real. You've already admitted to misrepresenting reality in interviews. Normally such makes you a liar, so how will more interviews clear anything up?

[DMX7]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18c3fktfp1jnvjpg/xlarge.jpg



http://deadspin.com/5977438/the-dallas-stars-showed-an-empty-chair-on-the-jumbotron-identified-it-as-manti-teos-girlfriend?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitte r&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow


That's probably the biggest guest the Dallas Stars will have all year.

[coyotes_geek]

Manti Te'o agrees to on-camera interview with Katie Couric!



Not surprising. Te'o liked getting to play the victim when everyone thought his girlfriend died. Now it looks like he's ready to grab some more attention for himself by going on the media circuit to play the victim of an online hoax. After he gets drafted in the 5th round he can play the victim card yet again.

Manti Te'o, professional victim.

[TFloss32]

Someone close to Te'o provides the media with phone records...in a spreadsheet.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/23/teo-produces-spreadsheet-of-cell-phone-records/

[leemajors]

that's a lot of phone time, what a mope

[NFO]

Someone close to Te'o provides the media with phone records...in a spreadsheet.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18cex4j82z6ifjpg/original.jpg

[JMarkJohns]

Some needs to parody Jenny (867-5309) to Lennay (555-5555). It all still rhymes. Hell, the parody act can be called Manti Tutone.

For a good time, for a good time call...

FkpGQUflBwU