Story of Te’o’s Girlfriend Is Said to Be a Hoax

[underpants]

Source: NY Times

Manti Te’o, Notre Dame’s star linebacker, was one of the feel-good stories of the 2012 college football season, excelling on the field despite the deaths of his grandmother and his girlfriend, he said, within hours of each other.

On Wednesday, that story fell apart when the Web site Deadspin published an article saying that Te’o’s girlfriend never existed.

Notre Dame said in a statement that Te’o was 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.”


Notre Dame said in a statement that Te’o was 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.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/sports/ncaafootball/story-of-manti-teos-girlfriend-is-said-to-be-a-hoax.html?_r=0

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Te’o’s seemingly heartwarming story of perseverance was told and retold during the season, in which he was for the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and led Notre Dame to an unexpected berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

1. I'm glad I ignore the national ballwashing of Notre Dame....

....to say I knew nothing of this kid's other than the fact he was overrated his only business being in the Heisman discussion was the fact that he's from Notre Dame. Every bit of mythology that springs from that place should be looked upon with suspicion.

[GodlessBiker]

2. I'm not convinced that he is not partially responsible for this ridiculousness.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

13. Like someone in this thread said,

why didn't he attend her funeral? The coach says he never met her. The father says he did. Sounds like he may be a pathological liar. (Literally.)

[randome]

22. The coach was in tears talking about Te'O's naivety.

I smell something rotten.

[GeorgeGist]

3. Didn't he attend her funeral?

They were so close.

[DollarBillHines]

4. Yeah, Te'o, that's the ticket.

This smells like one of our pastures.

[rocktivity]

5. According to Deadspin, they met -- on

Last edited Thu Jan 17, 2013, 12:55 AM - Edit history (2)

Nov. 28, 2009: Te'o and Kekua meet after Stanford's 45-38 victory over Notre Dame in Palo Alto, according to the South Bend Tribune: "Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te'o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes." Kekua, a Stanford student, swaps phone numbers with Te'o.

...Te'o's father, Brian, told the Tribune in October 2012 "Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there"...His grandma, Annette Santiago, died after a long illness...according to the Oct. 12 South Bend Tribune...Lennay lives long enough to express condolences over the death of Annette...

Manti Te'o and Lennay Kekua did not meet at Stanford in 2009. The real beginning of their relationship apparently occurred on Twitter, as an encounter between @MTeo_5 and @lovalovaloveYOU, on Oct. 10, 2011...This week, we got in touch with a woman living in Torrance, Calif. We'll call her Reba, to protect her identity. She was initially confused, then horrified to find that she had become the face of a dead woman. "That picture," she told us over the phone, "is a picture of me from my Facebook account."

Now I'm supposed to believe that he AND his family were victims of an online hoaxer -- a hoaxer that it turns out he knew? I think ND is doing a little "washing" of its own. And I hope Te'o is sent to a psychologist before he's allowed to play again.


rocktivity

[obama2terms]

6. The ESPN website is exploding with messages about this

[Kyad06]

8. Should have been Bama -Oregon

That would have been a great game. Or even A and M vs Bama round two.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Absolutely Oregon.

We turned off the Alabama-Notre Dame game after the first quarter.

[exboyfil]

10. And if Oregon had taken care of business

against Stanford like Notre Dame did, then they would have been in the NCG. I am not a Notre Dame fan, but they don't hide from anybody. While most of the teams they beat this year were down, it does not change the fact that they beat them including Stanford. They mostly schedule perennial powers (Mich, USC, Stanford, Oklahoma, and Miama). Even there second tier games involve teams with some long term success (Boston College, BYU).

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Let me whisper my last goodbyes, I know, it's serious

[Bradical79]

12. Here's the original story that broke this wide open:

[link:http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax|

[underpants]

14. Thanks for the link

DeadSpin did some actual journalism there (we don't see that much) and the whole thing is clearly a hoax. The NY Times played nicey on a story that exposes everyone involved including Te'o's father.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

15. What a bizarre story.

You're supposed to wait till after you're a pro to crash and burn.

I wonder if any pro teams will want to mess with all that drama?

[AngryOldDem]

16. Thanks. I'm going to have to read this when I have more time.

What was the kid thinking? Didn't he know that stuff like this eventually gets found out?

And I heard yesterday that HE was the victim of the hoax?

[groundloop]

17. My son read of a rumer that Te'o made up his "girlfriend" to hide his gayness....

... and the entire thing just snowballed. I don't know where he read that, but given the context of a masculine football player at a big time Catholic university it sounds plausible. I haven't been in a locker room in years, but I suspect that jocks are still way less accepting of gay people than most of the rest of the country.

[underpants]

18. No no no

he can't be gay--he's Mormon

Te'o...Tebow?

[AngryAmish]

19. He is going to hear about it on the field the rest of his career

The girlfriend in California thing would be a good beard story.

[JI7]

24. so why not hide behind his religion like Tebow is doing

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

20. Whatever the story, I hope he has friends keeping an eye on him

I mean real friends. "Suicide watch" kind of friends.

He may need professional help, too.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. Reminds me of the Mike Yanagita character from Fargo.

Down to her having leukemia....

[BellaLuna]

23. I know a couple people involved in this

I think it started as a prank and got out of control. Te'o may have been a victim at first but then loved the attention and let if fester.


I don't want to delve too much but that Tuiasosopo kid deserves everything that will come at him. Te'o though is really gonna pay in the long run.