Manti Te'O Dead Girlfriend a Hoax!

[Billy Dat]

So this is interesting...
http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-te...ason-is-a-hoax

[pfrduke]

Yeah, I just came here to post about that. Absolutely bonkers.

[A-Tex Devil]

Yeah, I just came here to post about that. Absolutely bonkers.

Here is ND's statement.

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.

The thing is Te'o *can't* be just a victim here because didn't he claim to have met her in person, right? Weird.

[chattpanther]

It is a long article but this sums it up towards the end:
There was no Lennay Kekua. Lennay Kekua did not meet Manti Te'o after the Stanford game in 2009. Lennay Kekua did not attend Stanford. Lennay Kekua never visited Manti Te'o in Hawaii. Lennay Kekua was not in a car accident. Lennay Kekua did not talk to Manti Te'o every night on the telephone. She was not diagnosed with cancer, did not spend time in the hospital, did not engage in a lengthy battle with leukemia. She never had a bone marrow transplant. She was not released from the hospital on Sept. 10, nor did Brian Te'o congratulate her for this over the telephone. She did not insist that Manti Te'o play in the Michigan State or Michigan games, and did not request he send white flowers to her funeral. Her favorite color was not white. Her brother, Koa, did not inform Manti Te'o that she was dead. Koa did not exist. Her funeral did not take place in Carson, Calif., and her casket was not closed at 9 a.m. exactly. She was not laid to rest.

Lennay Kekua's last words to Manti Te'o were not "I love you."

A friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told us he was "80 percent sure" that Manti Te'o was "in on it," and that the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua's death with publicity in mind. According to the friend, there were numerous photos of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Te'o together on Tuiasosopo's now-deleted Instagram account.

[Greg_Newton]

One of the crazier things I've ever read... and yeah, ND's response makes zero sense.

The only theory I've seen that would even make a small amount of sense is that it was an elaborate cover for their homosexual relationship. But even in that scenario, why make it such a dramatic, high-profile story?

So strange.

[A-Tex Devil]

Have you seen some of the one-liners out there?

My favorite so far:

Manti Te'o wasn't missing tackles in the National Championship, he was hugging his girlfriend.

[blazindw]

THE strangest, saddest, most twisted, messed up story I have EVER encountered. Te'o and ND didn't do him any favors with those statements either.

[Channing]

Please just merge this with the thread on the OTB.

[A-Tex Devil]

THE strangest, saddest, most twisted, messed up story I have EVER encountered. Te'o and ND didn't do him any favors with those statements either.

See I am not going to go that far. Worst case -- dude got Catfished. But you can pluck statements made by him and his dad that are clearly outright lies.

*Best* case for him is that he was embarrassed to have met a girl on line and lied about how they actually met, interacted and stuff, and then had the rug pulled out from under him. But I don't really buy that.

At the end of the day, though, is this anything more than a PR nightmare for Te'o and ND? Where is the harm? Belcher (KC), Cam Newton and his dad, Ron McKelvey are all much more sad, strange and twisted in their own way. Unless something truly illegal and fraudulent went on, I am hoping we can all move on from this after Lance spills it to Oprah tomorrow night.

[pamtar]

Have you seen some of the one-liners out there?

My favorite so far:

Manti Te'o wasn't missing tackles in the National Championship, he was hugging his girlfriend.

Brent Musburger thinks Te'o's fake girlfriend is hot.

[El_Diablo]

Ha! Nosuch Dame!

[weezie]

Utterly ridiculous. Seriously, could he have possibly thought that would sway the Heisman his way? Is that what the press is intimating?
What the he-twosticks is wrong with him...and his father?!
Sick, sick, sick.
Stupid losers.

[FerryFor50]

I don't think Teo made this up to get publicity. I think he fell for some online hoax.

[matt1]

As I see it, one of three things happened.

1) He fell for a hoax.
2) He was covering up a gay relationship with that other player.
3) He thought that the public would fall in love with the story of the dead girlfriend.

I think all three are very possible, but if I had to guess, I would actually go with #1 (the hoax).

[sporthenry]

This is one of the strangest things ever. I won't rush to judgment just b/c I'm interested to see what will happen. And I didn't even know of this so I don't feel lied to b/c I try to stay out of people's personal lives. But it has led to a surreal moment which is rather hilarious.

[A-Tex Devil]

As I see it, one of three things happened.

1) He fell for a hoax.
2) He was covering up a gay relationship with that other player.
3) He thought that the public would fall in love with the story of the dead girlfriend.

I think all three are very possible, but if I had to guess, I would actually go with #1 (the hoax).

Why did he say he met her in person?

Why did he say he spoke to her for hours each night?

Why did his dad say she came to visit them in Hawaii?

It may have initially been a hoax but you'll have a hard time convincing me he didn't run with it for some unknown reason. At the end of the day, though, who was really harmed? So let's have good laugh and move on to the next thing.

[roywhite]

Why did he say he met her in person?

Why did he say he spoke to her for hours each night?

Why did his dad say she came to visit them in Hawaii?

It may have initially been a hoax but you'll have a hard time convincing me he didn't run with it for some unknown reason. At the end of the day, though, who was really harmed? So let's have good laugh and move on to the next thing.

Be interesting to see how this affects his draft prospects. Not favorably, I would think, though he just needs one team to make the pick.

[blueduke59]

BREAKING: Julius Peppers confirms he attended classes with Manti Te'o's girlfriend at unc

[J4Kop99]

BREAKING: Julius Peppers confirms he attended classes with Manti Te'o's girlfriend at unc

haha.

This will make for a great sequel to Rudy. "A cinderella story where more than 'the slipper' go missing"

[Mal]

All I know is Lennay Kekua is the perfect analogy for Notre Dame's national title hopes this year: Beautiful story that turned out to be utter fantasy.

Seriously, though, someone who never existed has died here. Let's not make light of it.

I'm sure we'll find out Eddie Lacey's somehow at fault for this.

------------

In all seriousness, whatever happened here (and for the moment, I'm with A-tex on the initial assessment - there are just too many coincidences to be credulous that Te'o was completely duped and never went along with something), I feel sorry for him. He's a kid wrapped up in something that's turned out to be rather harmless compared to an awful lot of fictitious internet romances, but whether this was an innocent college kid thing that spun out of control and swallowed him up, a cover for a part of him he didn't want to confront, or a true snowjob he fell prey to, the cat being so out of the bag in such a hugely public way has to be horrible to go through.

I will definitely be asking Domer acquaintances about this one, because to a person a large part of their excitement this season was the emotional connection with Te'o based on the dead girlfriend/devoted good guy sympathy angle.