Manti Te'o (what a snake)

[Dossenator]

What is wrong with this guy. He says he has a girlfriend in CA, and that she is in a terrible car accident. Then she gets cancer, and dies 6 hours after his grandmother. He goes on media outlets (such as ESPN) and talks about the tragedy. His Heisman campaign starts right around this time. All season we hear about how he triumphed through adversity.

Here is the catch: he did not have a girlfriend. It was all made up.

Something is seriously wrong with this guy. If I am an NFL team I do not touch him. Let him be a headache to someone else.

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

The pictures posted of his alleged girl friend were taken from some random persons facebook page.

It will be interesting to see how he explains himself out of this one.

[Spence]

Unbelievable. How could he possibly think that making up a story like this wouldn't come back to haunt him.

[Spence]

He is saying that he thought it was an authentic relationship. I don't understand how you can call someone you never met in person your girlfriend. I also can't fathom that if he considered her his girlfriend, why he didn't go to the funeral or attempt to meet with her family at the time of her death. Even visit her burial site. If he was really the one who was duped here then he is the biggest goober in history.

[Cane from the Bend]

A guy @ the fitness club I workout at, says his 16 year old son mentioned how he could see having an online relationship without meeting or actually having a phone conversation with the girl.

Different times I suppose.

The guys & I were joking around at Te'o's expense last night . . . though, the question came up; why did he not attempt to go to the funeral, then.

I figured it was because his grandmother had died only 2 days before, and he opted to spend that time with his family.

My guess; whomever created this fake female personality, didn't think Te'o would be so dumb-fooled by it, and thus, after having gone too far with it, needed a way out of the joke . . . then, seeing the story about his Grandmother, thought, oh, that's how I can get out of it, and told him she died.

I also assume; he found out the truth some time ago, felt like a complete imbecile . . . and didn't tell anyone outta embarrassment.

Then, once someone broke the story, he came out and said so.

If this is true; then it goes to show you how far society has separated itself from each other.
So-much-so, that kids do not have real relationships, and technology is more important to them.

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On-the-other-hand:

It could also be that he is a sort of needy hypochondriac, who doesn't feel the spotlight of being an all-star football player is enough, so, he invents situations to recenter attention around himself.

I know a few people who have many friends, but still feel the need to create tragic events in order to gain attention from others.

For some reason, being accepted is not enough. They need a constant reminder how people feel.

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Whichever the case, Manti is humiliated today . . . and only has himself to blame.

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[Spence]

Even if someone could have a complete relationship online, which I guess I'm too old to understand, I can't see not going to the funeral or at least going to visit her family after he got back from his grandmother's funeral.

[Dossenator]

At some point would you not have a phone conversation or two. Maybe he is the victim...I don't know. Just plain weird all around.

[Spence]

At some point would you not have a phone conversation or two. Maybe he is the victim...I don't know. Just plain weird all around.

I guess there were phone conversations, although, I don't know who he was talking to. I guess I just don't get it, but I don't know how you can have a girlfriend without ever being in the same room with the girl. I don't know how you can claim to be so close with someone and not attend their funeral. I really don't understand being that engrossed in a virtual world and I spend lots of time on the internet.

[Eric]

It is a crazy story. I can see somebody developing an online relationship with distance being an issue. More and more people nowadays are meeting each other on the Internet, in Web chatrooms and whatever. It could be the case that he was just duped, took care of some "private business" in web chatrooms, made plans to meet her eventually after football season was over, etc. Once the story leaks out and reporters ask him on national television about his "girlfriend," what is he going to say? "Uh, she's not really my girlfriend, she's a person I've met on the Internet and never in person in order to do some private things in a web chatroom with, but I hoped to meet her one day." If he was really duped and lied about it, I could understand because it would be extremely embarrassing. He would have to deal with being branded as a liar and a fabricator, but I could see where he's coming from.

But, on the other hand, Deadspin's account really makes it seem like it was an elaborate hoax because they think the guy running her fake Twitter account was actually an acquaintance of Te'o's (cousin of Marques Tuiasasopo). This thing does stink. I've given everybody the benefit of the doubt from Lance Armstrong to Barry Bonds to Michael Vick to Jim Leavitt before the evidence just becomes so overwhelming. It's not that I "want" to believe them, it's just that I don't rush to judgment before I know what is going on. But, where there's smoke there's fire. And if that's the case, T'eo duped me as well because I thought he was a well-respected leader in the locker room who could get an entire team on his side. I felt he was a little overrated athletically, but I wouldn't mind if the Lions drafted him because they need non-headcases on their roster (after the off-field incidents and the on-field discipline problems). I thought he could help mitigate some of that and become a leader on their defense. I think he's put into the headcase camp after this. I mean I've seen people do some crazy, unethical stuff, but to lie to an entire country and fake someone's death from leukemia to generate sympathy and attention? If true, that's one of the most pathetic and unethical things I've seen a major athlete do if you take out major criminal offenses.

[Spence]

Besides the people who set up this hoax, is there anyone more culpable here than the media. If they didn't check this out, how many other things do they print that hasn't been checked out to be factual? It seems that this story has shown the light on a much bigger problem than a college kid having a fake girlfriend.

[Swamp Daddy]

Well, when I was 12 to about 14, every girl I lusted after was my "imaginary girlfriend". I just never tried to project those fantasies into the real world as everyone knew quite better. He just went the lie one better by putting her across the country.

What a dork.

Oh, some pro team will want him. The question being does he have a future at Notre Dame? Will the Irish be duped into further supporting him now that the truth is out. Looks like he's trying to get some buddy to shoulder the blame.

He obviously doesn't function much in the real world except during games. Someone should check his phone records. LOL.

Swamp Daddy

[Swamp Daddy]

With some phone calls coming out with his supposed girl friend, the mess only deepens with claims the guy (his supposed friend) set him up and either did the phone calls or got his sister to do them. And NFL teams now asking are you gay of everyone at try-out camps. What is the (football) world coming to?

Swamp Daddy