Manti Te'o

[vancemeek]

I won't go into a big explanation, mostly because it's all so crazy and convoluted, but it appears as though the girlfriend that supposedly died in September, which he rode to stardom, didn't even exist. Deadspin has the story:

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

Notre Dame released a statement saying Te'o was the victim of a hoax, but they don't really make much sense in the context that they say they've known about it for 3 weeks, and that Te'o spent time with the girl, who apparently looked nothing like her pictures on Twitter. Weird story that is sure to get major play for a while.

[KabaModernFan]

Obviously this is speculation on my part, but I feel like Te'o was in on it all along. Reading the Deadspin article, it seems very evident than Te'o and Tuiasosopo (yes, there's a Tuiasosopo involved) knew each other quite well. I find it hard to believe that he and Te'o could've been so closely connected, yet Te'o was clueless enough to believe this whole thing for over a year.

[Rich Gapinski]

This day has been nuts.

[vancemeek]

Just hearing that ESPN asked Te'o if they could contact her family for a statement and Te'o said they wanted privacy. ESPN the asked if they could have some pictures. Te'o again said no, that the family would prefer no pictures. Strange in retrospect.

[vancemeek]

To clarify the previous post, the requests were back in October when they interviewed him.

[tubbs1518]

I have no idea how true this is, but I'm hearing comments that Lennay Kekua wasn't her real name. That she was registered at Stanford and for her SSN as Lennay Marie Wochinski. Now how true that is I have no idea, just what I am hearing.

[tubbs1518]

Apparently that wasn't true because this has been released:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...ctim-of-a-hoax

[Rich Gapinski]

Oh, just to clarify. I'm sorry to tell you that I do exist. Also, sadly, this site does not. You are all here in John Malkovich's mind.

[Docta]

Just hearing that ESPN asked Te'o if they could contact her family for a statement and Te'o said they wanted privacy. ESPN the asked if they could have some pictures. Te'o again said no, that the family would prefer no pictures. Strange in retrospect.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...pparently-hoax

Apparently that wasn't true because this has been released:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...ctim-of-a-hoax

They said it appears to be a hoax. There's nothing else they can really say.

[vancemeek]

There are lots of inconsistencies in the whole story. Why did Notre Dame let ESPN run a piece on the girl before the BCS game when they knew about it since Dec 26th?

Why did Te'o say they met online, when there are stories about them meeting at a ND/Stanford game a few years ago?

How did Te'o not realize that she looked different in person than in her pictures online?

There was definitely a hoax, but who played who?