Notre Dame's Monti Te'o hoax story

[RitaE]

At this point I just really don't see how he couldn't have been in on it.

Take all the press clippings and his soundbites that now appear to be obviously false information out of the equation.

He has a girlfriend who is supposedly the love of his life. Over the course of this 3 YEAR relationship she is in a major car accident, graduates from Stanford, is diagnosed with Leukemia, is in and out of the hospital, and then becomes terminally ill.

3 YEARS .....

I realize he is a busy guy but over the course of 3 years wouldn't he have found a spare weekend or something in there somewhere to go visit his cancer afflicted girlfriend before she dies?

In 3 years? How could he NOT?

If he didn't contribute to developing the hoax there simply had to have been a point where he knowingly kept it going, for whatever reasons he had.

 

[TiggerTails57]

I want to see the phone records, those eight hour phone calls while she lie dying in the hospital.

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm an ND alum and lifelong fan... and I'm just so befuzzled and upset about this. At the very least, Manti told some pretty huge whoppers of a lie. I can imagine that he actually started dating this "girl" over the internet, and told some lies to his buddies because he didn't wnat them to think that he had an internet-only girlfriend. I can imagine he was totally duped by said internet-girlfriend in a scam.
But I just can't understand why he (and his father!) would continue the lies on national television. At some point, a stand-up guy is one who tells the truth even when it's hard or embarassing.

I don't really believe he was "in on it" from the very beginning, but clearly at some point he realized something was fishy, and just let the story continue to unfold instead of doing the right thing. Ugh.

 

[design_mom]

I want to see the phone records, those eight hour phone calls while she lie dying in the hospital.

Or the receipt for the white roses.

I agree that something doesn't sound right about that story. I could see him falling madly in love with someone he only knew by phone/e-mail and *that* turning out to be a hoax. But if that was the case, he either lied to the media or let them publish "miscommunication" on top of "miscommunication" without even trying to correct the story. At that point, he became "in on it". I also don't believe that if the "love of my life" had grave injuries/illnesses or a major life even like a graduation, I wouldn't make it out to California at *some* point to see her. At least once. In three years.

And speaking of the media? Didn't *anybody* fact check *anything* before they published it? Journalism!

 

[gwynne]

Or the receipt for the white roses.

I agree that something doesn't sound right about that story. I could see him falling madly in love with someone he only knew by phone/e-mail and *that* turning out to be a hoax. But if that was the case, he either lied to the media or let them publish "miscommunication" on top of "miscommunication" without even trying to correct the story. At that point, he became "in on it". I also don't believe that if the "love of my life" had grave injuries/illnesses or a major life even like a graduation, I wouldn't make it out to California at *some* point to see her. At least once. In three years.

And speaking of the media? Didn't *anybody* fact check *anything* before they published it? Journalism!

BBM. I totally agree about the receipt for the roses, what florist, where there were sent, etc. Easy to quickly determine if he was in on this.
You're spot on about the fact checking.

I am highly suspicious of all the gosh, he was a victim of a hoax stuff. Maybe, or could it be that this whole thing was a sob story concocted to garner some extra Heisman votes??? Is it a hoax or a fraud?

 

[TXinmyheart]

You just have to know that Oprah is having a conniption with the T'eo story coming out.

I knew that Lance Armstrong had a Brass set of ball, but to pose as a college football player's girlfriend...

 

[DopeyDame]

Interesting perspective from an ND student: http://collegespun.com/big-east/not...-manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-hoax#.UPglrqysg2z

In part:
While I believe Manti Te’o to have an incredibly good heart and to have gotten duped, I will also be quick to point out that he oversold all of this drama in the first place. It was heinous of him to play up a relationship as the love of his life for a girl he had never actually met — I think most people can agree that is ridiculous. And I think Notre Dame had to have some knowledge of the the whole case being significantly embellished but was on board because of the positive press and hype it brought to the university. Could it have been a massive oversight and university officials just took Manti at his word that it was his girlfriend? Absolutely, but I like to think my school’s athletic department is a little smarter than that — it has shown itself to be quite media savvy in the past. I think that Te’o, his family, and Notre Dame all knew what was going on in terms of hyperbole (but not the entire non-existence) and decided to go with it, never expecting the truth to come out.

 

[JoBird]

As soon as my college football loving 13 year old son heard about this yesterday he said Manti should forever be known now as Manti Fake-o.

It's really disgusting and shameful if he truly was in on it at all.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

You just have to know that Oprah is having a conniption with the T'eo story coming out.

I knew that Lance Armstrong had a Brass set of ball, but to pose as a college football player's girlfriend...

One of my favorite tweets last night about this

Thank You Monti Teo

Sincerely

Lance Armstrong

 

[gwynne]

Interesting perspective from an ND student: http://collegespun.com/big-east/not...-manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-hoax#.UPglrqysg2z

In part:
While I believe Manti Te’o to have an incredibly good heart and to have gotten duped, I will also be quick to point out that he oversold all of this drama in the first place. It was heinous of him to play up a relationship as the love of his life for a girl he had never actually met — I think most people can agree that is ridiculous. And I think Notre Dame had to have some knowledge of the the whole case being significantly embellished but was on board because of the positive press and hype it brought to the university. Could it have been a massive oversight and university officials just took Manti at his word that it was his girlfriend? Absolutely, but I like to think my school’s athletic department is a little smarter than that — it has shown itself to be quite media savvy in the past. I think that Te’o, his family, and Notre Dame all knew what was going on in terms of hyperbole (but not the entire non-existence) and decided to go with it, never expecting the truth to come out.

Thanks for posting this. It sounds like it was this student's opinion (as well as others) that the whole thing was used to help the Heisman campaign. That is my suspicion, as well. Pretty pathetic.

 

[FergieTCat]

Some pretty good questions:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...estions-in-the-manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax?lite

 

[gwynne]

One of my favorite tweets last night about this

Thank You Monti Teo

Sincerely

Lance Armstrong

Wonder if Lance needs an intern....They would probably work well together.

 

[Deb in IA]

You do realize he supposedly met her in person, right?

I heard that was reported by his father, and they were trying to track dad down to verify that.

 

[asta]

I think the big money business that is college football either consciously or subconsciously supported this story. My opinions are formed as a SEC fan but I think that the media would like to establish more balanced competition in a system that has been dominated the last few years by southern teams in both the championship and Heisman races. They are probably concerned that a lopsided competitive environment will cause loss of interest. In this environment, the media and other powers that be were willing to look over the details in order to find a hero that would increase interest in college football.

I don't know who was in on this story or when they became aware but Monti Te'os version doesn't sound true. I also think that they are setting up his friend who came up with the girl's photo to take the fall.

 

[Princess Dolly]

TMZ is all over this. Another interesting twist: http://www.tmz.com/2013/01/17/manti-teo-ronaiah-tuiasosopo-scandal-hoax-notre-dame-photo-girlfriend/

Oh and ND PTB have told staff to keep their yaps shut or else.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

I heard that was reported by his father, and they were trying to track dad down to verify that.

Reconcile that with these paragraphs from the South Bend Tribune article (Brian is Manti's father):
"Lennay Kekua was a Stanford student and Cardinal football fan when the two exchanged glances, handshakes and phone numbers that fateful weekend three seasons ago."

""They started out as just friends," Brian Te'o said. "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. But within the last year, they became a couple."

"Kekua, who eventually graduated from Stanford, was, in fact, doing so well that she was released from the hospital on Sept. 10. And Brian Te'o was among those congratulating her via telephone."

 

[DopeyDame]

Thanks for posting this. It sounds like it was this student's opinion (as well as others) that the whole thing was used to help the Heisman campaign. That is my suspicion, as well. Pretty pathetic.

I think it depends on what you mean by "the whole thing". I think he was duped. I truly believe in my heart-of-hearts (obviously without any real facts) that there was an internet hoax that someone played on Manti. That there was someone pretending to be his online and on phone girlfriend.

I also think that he exagerated for the publicity (and probably a little because college-age-guys are dumb and it's not unheard of for them to exagerate their romances). And that is, like you said, pathetic.

I also think that at some point - well before Dec. 26 - he knew the whole thing was a hoax, and he let it just continue on anyway. And that pisses me off. As someone who really admired and trusted him, I'm taking this pretty personally.

Finally, I spent three+ hours during the national championship game yelling "Where the hell is our defense??!?? What the hell is wrong with Manti??!!??" Now we know the answer to that question, and THAT really pisses me off, too.

 

[DopeyDame]

I also have to add that the ND football season this year was infinitely more fun than the off-season is proving to be so far...

 

[cabanafrau]

Wonder if Lance needs an intern....They would probably work well together.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've read. Why on earth would Lance take on someone who, when Lance threatens to ruin him when the relationship goes south, could probably shrug, meh, give it your best shot?

Extortion and coercion work best when the intended victim has something to lose.

 

[Princess Dolly]

There is still one NFL head coaching position open. Wonder if Brian Kelly is reconsidering...

Also, what's with paying for an investigation for Manti, but not taking this seriously: http://jezebel.com/5976718/notre-da...ring-their-history-of-ignoring-actual-victims