Say It Ain't So, Te'o

[JediKooter]

At least he doesn't have to fudge any bank statements.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Is it possible the faker did meet him?

I'm sure that will be the story from his side

[cmp]

The profile used fake pictures so I don't know how he could have met her and not known.

[stevew]

Is there a play by play of this somewhere that explains the story? I don't follow college football at all.

[Desnudo]

Who cares if she met him or not. If she wasn't his girlfriend and is alive what else needs to be said.

[Scoobz0202]

Lance Armstrong is sitting somewhere with a huge shit eating grin on his face.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Lance Armstrong is sitting somewhere with a huge shit eating grin on his face.

And Oprah is pissed!

[MJ4H]

I read the deadspin article and don't really get it. Did he invent this girl for the hype or did someone pretend to be his gf online for some weird scam? Lay it out for me like I'm 5 yrs old please.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

a terrible car accident wasn't tragic enough he had to turn it up to eleven with bone cancer

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

I read the deadspin article and don't really get it. Did he invent this girl for the hype or did someone pretend to be his gf online for some weird scam? Lay it out for me like I'm 5 yrs old please.

That's the question. Did he know she wasn't real? There are stories out there in which he talks about meeting her, so.........

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

That's the question. Did he know she wasn't real? There are stories out there in which he talks about meeting her, so.........

Oh ok. I thought I was the only one that didn't figure it out.

[PurdueBrad]

Swarbrick is really putting himself out there if it turns out that Te'o is involved. This will be interesting to watch unravel over the next couple of weeks and I certainly look forward to hearing the perpetrator's side of things.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

a terrible car accident wasn't tragic enough he had to turn it up to eleven with bone cancer

I thought it was leukemia. Get your fake disease right, Norv!

[Jon]

So, Swarbick says the 2009 timeline fits...so this hoax has been going on for 3 years?

And now they "met online."

[PurdueBrad]

Yeah Jon, there are still a couple big issues I have. In addition to what you mentioned, the fact that they had several meet-ups lined up and she never showed up for anything. At what point would you say WTF and step back. This is really weird because I think he must have been on it but Swarbrick is so far out there in his defense (no real hedging, which is what I expected).

[Jon]

And now Swarbrick is implying the real target was Notre Dame.....

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I thought it was leukemia. Get your fake disease right, Norv!

leukemia is bone cancer. i should know my canadian girlfriend had it. sadly she was eaten by a shark on the way to her transplant. #missyou

[molson]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

That's the question. Did he know she wasn't real? There are stories out there in which he talks about meeting her, so.........

And his official statement today is still that this is a hoax. Despite the stuff about him meeting her. So I'm still kind of confused, but I'm kind of new to this and haven't yet figured out the relevance of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, whoever that is.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

leukemia is bone cancer.

Absolutely not

[RainMaker]

He made up the whole thing for sympathy/publicity.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Norv beat me to the "Canadian GF" bit.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Hilarious story. The guy is either full of shit or is dating Tuiasosopo but doesn't want people to find out he's gay so they did it this way till people started to pry into it and figure things out.

"Ronaiah, my family is asking if Lennay is going to be at my grandmothers funeral, I think they're kind of expecting her to be there."

And then...

[Julio Riddols]

Wow, in 2 weeks, I have gone from hoping the Bengals would have a shot at this guy to hoping they don't even think about it.

[Suicane75]

So it's shaping up to be a big ol Samoan gladiator movie.

[RainMaker]

The only other explanation I can think of is that he's gay and this was a cover for it. Still feels like there are much better ways to hide that if you don't want it coming out.

South Bend Tribune has started to delete articles about it. Will be interesting to see how many other news publications try to whitewash this.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Wow, in 2 weeks, I have gone from hoping the Bengals would have a shot at this guy to hoping they don't even think about it.

Shit, I'm hoping for some reason his draft stock plummets and the Cowboys somehow snatch him up.

[stevew]

Aren't there a lot of high profile draft bombs at linebacker? I dunno about touching anyone in the first half of the first round.

[bhlloy]

I'd be far more concerned about how bad he looked taking on blockers in the title game than this to be honest. He probably made a stupid decision as a 17 year old and it mushroomed into this huge thing, it's embarrassing but I don't know if it's as big deal to his draft stock as people think it is. And I'm a USC fan FFS.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by stevew

Aren't there a lot of high profile draft bombs at linebacker? I dunno about touching anyone in the first half of the first round.

I think it's easier to get quality linebackers later in the draft. That's why I'd avoid grabbing one too high unless they can rush the passer like Matthews.

[Julio Riddols]

Yeah, I was more discouraged by his performance in the NC game, but this just makes him seem kind of stupid on top of that. He really seems like another Maualuga waiting to happen.

[CraigSca]

Wait, what!?!?

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 ... "
He 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."
Te'o is training in preparation for the NFL draft at the IMG Institute in Bradenton, Fla. He is No. 8 on Mel Kiper's latest draft board.

[cartman]

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Does this anyone's view of the national championship game? If you take Manti at his word, it definitely would be an excuse for his performance and that of his team. I still think Bama rolls Notre Dame, but it does give you pause.

ND's chances were as real as Manti's girlfriend.

[cartman]

Awesome one from Twitter:

"What if I told you that a girl that gave breath to a championship run, never took a breath at all?" - ESPN's 30 for 30 about Te'o.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

If we just combine all the great stories from today, Tiger Woods crashed Chip Kelly's helicopter into a crane while having sex with Manti Te'o's outsourced girlfriend.

[molson]

I bet these imaginary girlfriends are a lot less work. And the sex is at least average. I'm not shooting down this idea.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by M GO BLUE!!!

If we just combine all the great stories from today, Tiger Woods crashed Chip Kelly's helicopter into a crane while having sex with Manti Te'o's outsourced girlfriend, who Brent Musburger thinks is hot.

Fixed that for you.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Fixed that for you.

I knew it needed a little something... much like Te'o's love life!

[cmp]

I don't know what else to say anymore. Craziest story ever no matter what the real story is.

[TroyF]

Words just escape me here. Having a hoax GF is one thing, but killing her off and having the family be involved? I just don't get it. If he was the victim, he lacks some serious brains. If he was the guy who set this up, he's got some majorly misfiring synapses in the brain.

I'm not saying I figured this out (far from it, I bought into it like everyone else), but I was always curious why they talked about the GF so much and there was never a quote from her family and never a picture of the two together. In this day and age, that just doesn't happen.

What a story. The media is taking a beating (CBS/CNET and now this. . . wow)

[bhlloy]

I think given the quote from the Cardinals fullback above, I wonder if this wasn't the buddy working with a hot chick to try and get close to football players and figuring there was money involved somewhere on the line. Manti finally gets sick of being strung along and the buddy kills the GF off, thinking it will blow over. But of course the press picks up on it and things start to unravel from there. I don't think the AD of Notre Dame goes out and puts his neck on the line for a kid who is leaving the school anyway if he isn't 110% sure that the kid isn't a victim.

That being said, wow Manti must be stupid and incredibly naive (which does fit some of the things I've heard said about him)

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I do wonder, now, if Rudy Ruettiger was really a 45-year-old former marine who played a little semi-pro ball and was sad about missing out on a college experience.

Being an ex-marine would imply he did something unselfish in his life... not buying it. (Trust me - real ND fans/grads aren't too fond of Rudy the person for what he's done since that walk-on stint.)

Originally Posted by Simbo Klice

I'm sure Te'o was in on it. Not only did he help to fabricate part of the story, there isn't any way I'm believing that a star linebacker from Notre Dame was romantically involved with someone he knew for years but never met face-to-face.

What if I told you the star QB and Heisman Trophy winner from Florida was a virgin?

I have no idea what to believe at this point, but it seems like anything's possible at this point.

[stevew]

I'm surprised this story hasn't given Bobby Petrino some new excuses.

[cartman]

Incredibly, it sounds like Te'o was really just that naive. Internet sleuths are finding stuff showing that he really was Catfished. This guy's feed has links to people discussing it way back in November/early December.

Justin Megahan (justinrmegahan) on Twitter

[molson]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I think given the quote from the Cardinals fullback above, I wonder if this wasn't the buddy working with a hot chick to try and get close to football players and figuring there was money involved somewhere on the line. Manti finally gets sick of being strung along and the buddy kills the GF off, thinking it will blow over. But of course the press picks up on it and things start to unravel from there. I don't think the AD of Notre Dame goes out and puts his neck on the line for a kid who is leaving the school anyway if he isn't 110% sure that the kid isn't a victim.

That being said, wow Manti must be stupid and incredibly naive (which does fit some of the things I've heard said about him)

That's believable (though wacky), but hasn't Manti talked about meeting her? Or at least, there's article with specifics about how they met and about times they visited. Maybe that was all fed by hoaxer, and I guess it's possible those columnists never followed up with Manti and that Manti was never aware of any of those articles?

[chadritt]

Either Te'o was in on it, there are NO good investgative sports reporters left other than deadspin, or both.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by chadritt

Either Te'o was in on it, there are NO good investgative sports reporters left other than deadspin, or both.

If having a fake twitter girlfriend was an NCAA violation, Yahoo! probably would have picked up on it.

To be somewhat fair, I could at least see why someone in sports media with integrity or a conscience who had doubts about the story wouldn't want to dig into it and would just keep their mouths shut on the off chance that the name was misspelled or something - telling a national athlete their recently deceased GF wasn't real and then finding out she was would probably be a career-ending move for most reporters. It's the people who did puff pieces based off it without any concrete confirmation that come out looking like idiots (well, and Te'o + family.)

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Wow, in 2 weeks, I have gone from hoping the Bengals would have a shot at this guy to hoping they don't even think about it.

None of this will impact where teams draft him

[chadritt]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

None of this will impact where teams draft him

It will significantly change his interviews though and THAT could affect things. It will be interesting but I dont think he winds up falling too far.

[Simbo Klice]

Originally Posted by molson

That's believable (though wacky), but hasn't Manti talked about meeting her? Or at least, there's article with specifics about how they met and about times they visited. Maybe that was all fed by hoaxer, and I guess it's possible those columnists never followed up with Manti and that Manti was never aware of any of those articles?

Apparently now he's saying that when he said he met her, he was talking about the internet. Why he wouldn't bother to refute numerous stories about meeting her face to face, including how they originally met, is a question worth asking. What the purpose of this Tuiasosopo guy going to such lengths to do this to Manti is another one. I just don't see how he could convince some girl to play the part on the phone to deceive him and his family.