Author Topic: Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a Hoax (Read 8770 times)

BlackLight · « **on:** January 16, 2013, 05:06:46 PM »

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

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2013, 05:07:53 PM »

I was just reading this and it's interesting.

BlackLight · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2013, 05:45:48 PM »

Notre Dame released a statement that they were informed by Te'o and his family on 12/26 that he was the victim of a hoax and that the University is investigating.

Given all the information we seem to have, I don't understand how Te'o could possibly be a simple mark in all this.

One knee-jerk rumor I'm hearing already is that Te'o is actually gay, and this was an attempt to cover the fact. Te'o is supposedly a devout Mormon and attending a Catholic University.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2013, 05:56:31 PM »

This is the only angle that saves him. He can say how hard it is to be Mormon and gay, so he invented a girlfriend and he decided to end the lie.

Of course, he could've just "broken up" with her, he didn't have to create a gigantic sob story in hopes of marketing himself better.

BlackLight · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:02:56 PM »

If you're gay and religious, inventing a girlfriend isn't your only option. You can be "single." Which, if you're an athlete, isn't at all outlandish.

And he's not telling us he got fed up with lying about it. The last word from him on the subject was telling Notre Dame that he was duped.

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:45:33 PM »

He claimed to have met her though. What a tool.

BlackLight · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:58:32 PM »

He claimed to have met her. He claimed to have seen her at least a few times in Hawaii. And even if you discount this, and you think it's possible for an intelligent adult to be this colossally naive, his brother and his father were also supposedly "duped" by this.

BlackLight · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2013, 07:02:02 PM »

Also being reported that ESPN knew the real story 10 days ago, but sat on it.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2013, 07:37:05 PM »

ESPN isn't a news organization anymore and hasn't been one for awhile, so this doesn't surprise me or upset me. I do believe this will crush his draft stock. He was a borderline first rounder, but I think these "character issues" will drop him to at least the 3rd round. This is sociopathic behavior.

The_Spoiler · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2013, 07:42:30 PM »

Does anyone else get the feeling that FATSEXY was somehow involved with this?

Lennay is hurt.

BlackLight · « **Reply #10 on:** January 16, 2013, 08:01:20 PM »

Quote from: EDGECRUSHER on January 16, 2013, 07:37:05 PM

ESPN isn't a news organization anymore and hasn't been one for awhile, so this doesn't surprise me or upset me. I do believe this will crush his draft stock. He was a borderline first rounder, but I think these "character issues" will drop him to at least the 3rd round. This is sociopathic behavior.

If he doesn't come clean about this, I don't think he'll get drafted at all.

glacier890 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 16, 2013, 09:07:45 PM »

This story reminds me of this wrestling scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kujo7V9m0gk

BlackLight · « **Reply #12 on:** January 16, 2013, 10:13:12 PM »

Welp, turns out Lennay Kekua is real after all.

BlackLight · « **Reply #13 on:** January 16, 2013, 10:48:40 PM »

I have no idea if this is true or not, but it's making the rounds that "Lennay Kekua" is actually an anagram for 'Leukkennya'a' which is supposedly the Hawaiian word for "Leukemia."

Elbow · « **Reply #14 on:** January 16, 2013, 11:29:00 PM »

It's not, it's Lūkīmia.

Chus-Kay · « **Reply #15 on:** January 16, 2013, 11:35:09 PM »

(really running this into the ground but...)

i wonder if his fake girlfriend was as fat as vickie

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #16 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:20:45 AM »

I'm not buying that Arizona Cardinals fullback's story at all. Seriously weird is the part that he thinks he met her before she was even involved with Manti.

POE-Bot Activated! · « **Reply #17 on:** January 17, 2013, 04:37:20 PM »

Having not followed the story at all, I think Te'o got Catfish'ed. The girl in question I think was created by Te'o's friend Ronaiah without Te'o really knowing about it or if Te'o knew something, he may have figured it out and kept quiet. I also think that other people (like the LB for the Cardinals) were also duped or it was so elaborate that Te'o met a girl that was told by those staging it to be his girlfriend. "Reba" is the only innocent victim in all of this because I don't think she would know that her photos would be used.

BlackLight · « **Reply #18 on:** January 17, 2013, 05:15:20 PM »

It's a rather complex story, given what we do know, and especially given what we don't. But here's one piece of it that really doesn't do well to support the "Manti-as-victim" narrative.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/january/manti-te-o-talked-about-his-girlfriend-passing-away-at-the-heisman-trophy-presentation.html

Manti tells ND about the hoax on December 26th. In his account to his coaches and the AD, he received a phone call on 12/6 from his dead girlfriend's number. The person he speaks to (which he recognizes as his girlfriend) tells him she's not dead. In the AD's press conference yesterday, he describes Te'o as being "unnerved" by this revelation at the time.

Two days later, on 12/8, Te'o is in New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation. Chris Fowler of ESPN interviews him and asks him what "shared moment" from the past season stands out for him the most. And Te'o immediately talks about finding out about his girlfriend's death. Again, this happens two days after he's first told that his dead girlfriend was not dead.

This really isn't any sort of smoking gun, proving Te'o's complicity in this hoax. Fowler was asking him a pretty leading question, and was clearly expecting an answer very much like what he got. Even if Te'o's totally sure he's been duped at this point (as opposed to not being sure what to believe), then he might not have a separate answer ready to go.

But even given that possibility, I don't think he's got a ton of wiggle room to explain this away.

Chus-Kay · « **Reply #19 on:** January 17, 2013, 05:48:08 PM »

Quote from: POE-Bot Activated! on January 17, 2013, 04:37:20 PM

Having not followed the story at all, I think Te'o got Catfish'ed. The girl in question I think was created by Te'o's friend Ronaiah without Te'o really knowing about it or if Te'o knew something, he may have figured it out and kept quiet. I also think that other people (like the LB for the Cardinals) were also duped or it was so elaborate that Te'o met a girl that was told by those staging it to be his girlfriend. "Reba" is the only innocent victim in all of this because I don't think she would know that her photos would be used.

he said he met her a bunch of times and spent time with her.

Chus-Kay · « **Reply #20 on:** January 17, 2013, 05:51:59 PM »

is it possible there is a real girl and she just wanted out of the relationship?

BlackLight · « **Reply #21 on:** January 17, 2013, 05:57:25 PM »

One surprising thing about all this is that the Deadspin article authors (Burke and Dickey) didn't even receive their first tip that something was fishy until about a week ago. That's how long it took for all the information to come together and the article to be written.

BlackLight · « **Reply #22 on:** January 17, 2013, 06:20:34 PM »

Quote from: Chus-Kay on January 17, 2013, 05:51:59 PM

is it possible there is a real girl and she just wanted out of the relationship?

If you're suggesting that there was never any face-to-face meeting between the two, then I would only respond by saying, 'What relationship?'

If you're allowing that they met at least once, it would mean this girl was lying about her name from as far back as 2009, then found someone who looked enough like her to post a photo that Te'o would believe was her (why would she need to do this?)

Chus-Kay · « **Reply #23 on:** January 17, 2013, 09:34:03 PM »

yeah, cause she was never that into him.

BobbyR · « **Reply #24 on:** January 18, 2013, 10:44:22 AM »

he was in on it, no doubt