Manti Te'o and the Dead Girlfriend That Was Never Alive to Begin With

[homer]

So I realize this is about a football player, but I feel it's more of a social/cultural story than pure football so I'm starting a thread.

 

There's just too much going on with this to do it justice in a post so I'll just link to the Deadspin article. Wowzers.

 

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

[jerichoholicninja]

It's college football. Everything is a scandal.

[craigharmann]

As I told a friend, either he's the most naive person on the planet, and is the victim of an absolutely cruel joke, or he's a calculating, cold, heartless dude. Not quite sure where it falls in the spectrum.

[Invader3K]

I stand by my statements on Twitter that this whole thing was contrived by the sports media to generate new internet memes. At least that's the way it feels.

[fondybrewfan]

I just think it is hilarious. He had talked about meeting her. So either he made up a couple white lies to hide the fact that he was dating over the internet and had never actually met her; or he was in on the whole darn thing. Either way Teo comes out of this looking pretty dumb.

 

I just can't logically see the reason for Teo to run a scam of this magnitude; but nor can I logically see how he could have been duped so badly. There should have been red flags going off everywhere.

[homer]

I just can't logically see the reason for Teo to run a scam of this magnitude; but nor can I logically see how he could have been duped so badly. There should have been red flags going off everywhere.

 

Well, he is Mormon so...

[LouisEly]

I just don't see what the big deal is. The lead story on SportsCenter? Really?

 

If you found out you had been duped, would you admit right away that you had been duped or would you continue to tell little white lies trying not to look like a buffoon in the hopes that it would eventually go away?

 

Plenty of things I did at that age that, looking back, were really dumb and wish I had done differently. Raise your hand if that's not the case for you.

[Patrick425]

Why do I keep thinking of Kip Dynamite?

 

"Napolean, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day"

 

Well...at least Kip got to actually meet (and marry!) his online babe.

[GAME05]

Well, he is Mormon so...

 

kind of a cheap shot.

 

 

eh, i feel sorry for the guy. we all want to be in love, and some of us want it so desperately we'll let ourselves believe anything.

[Point Beer Is Best]

There are a few things that just don't add up in light of ND's and Te'o's statements.

 

- He claimed he met this woman in 2009 after exchanging glances and phone numbers during a loss to Stanford. His father also mentioned that she visited him back in Hawaii. Now, Te'o claims he never met in person, and the whole relationship was initiated and carried out online. It's going to lead to a Clinton-esque "depends on what your definition of the word 'met' is" defense. Either he was lying before, or he's lying now. Maybe both.

 

- Another Samoan player from the AZ Cardinals claims he met this woman back in 2009, and is 100% real. Yet there is no record of her ever existing. It's possible she may have targeted other players as well, if in fact this is some sick prank she pulls.

 

- This guy has been one of the biggest stars of college football over the course of his career. You mean a guy like that has to resort to internet dating? I know he's a Mormon (attending a Catholic school), so he's probably not out chasing tail like players at Texas, but he probably could find someone with similar values in person, either on-campus or nearby. It's entirely possible that he was using this lie (or internet relationship, if he were genuinely convinced it was real) as a cover for his sexual orientation (not that there's anything wrong with that) so he doesn't have players in the lockerroom wondering why he doesn't have a girlfriend. I feel terrible for making that kind of tabloid gossip accusation, but it seems entirely plausible given the presumed facts.

[Mass Haas]

So he never went on Skype or Facetime during a near three-year period? Everything was over the phone?

 

Please...

[hawing]

I stand by my statements on Twitter that this whole thing was contrived by the sports media to generate new internet memes. At least that's the way it feels.

Well, the meme industry is insatiable.

Otherwise, my only comment is what the kids say these days: I don't even.

[RobDeer 45]

I don't know how you get pulled in that bad to someone if you've never actually met or seen them. I mean, if I was an 85 yr old single man and needed a pen pal, that's one thing, but a young 20's college kid in the spot light.... I think I'd be looking for more than that.

[LouisEly]

- This guy has been one of the biggest stars of college football over the course of his career. You mean a guy like that has to resort to internet dating? I know he's a Mormon (attending a Catholic school), so he's probably not out chasing tail like players at Texas, but he probably could find someone with similar values in person, either on-campus or nearby. It's entirely possible that he was using this lie (or internet relationship, if he were genuinely convinced it was real) as a cover for his sexual orientation (not that there's anything wrong with that) so he doesn't have players in the lockerroom wondering why he doesn't have a girlfriend. I feel terrible for making that kind of tabloid gossip accusation, but it seems entirely plausible given the presumed facts.

 

You beat me to it. It makes a lot of sense - he's the star athlete on the team on the verge of making millions, so he has to have lots of women throwing themselves at him regardless of race/ethnicity/religion. Some of his teammates have to be egging him on to take advantage of these women. To keep saying "no" he has to have a good reason. So he makes up this "girlfriend", who is "real" but not really his "girlfriend" but is a "friend" who will help him with this cover. Now he's becoming a potential Heisman candidate so the media starts asking him about his personal life. His teammates keep asking about her, so he makes up this "death" to keep them off of him and make her go away, hoping it will be swept under the carpet. If it was also revealed that he was gay, there's a good chance it would hurt his draft stock and possibly cost him millions.

 

Even if this is the case, my original statement still stands - not a big deal. His personal life, not any of the public's business.

 

It is also possible that for cultural and religious reasons he only wants a Polynesian woman who is Mormon, and chances are there aren't many of them in South Bend. There are dating sites specific to just about every religion, and it is possible he met her through one of those. When he found out she was playing him he made up her death so as not to look like a buffoon and admit he got played.

[brwrsfan]

There are a couple of big red flags for me here.

 

One...in this day and age with Skype, webcams built into all laptops, facetime on Ipods, etc...how do you get by NEVER seeing this person? Unless, there was someone on the other end and it's a big sick joke, but that just seems so far fetched to me.

 

Two....when she "died", nobody found it even remotely odd that he didn't travel to be with her at the end or attend her funeral? Yes, I realize this was during the season, but I'm sure something could have been done to ensure he could have missed a day or two of practice and attended. Nobody bothered to even ask him about this? His teammates, friends on the team, coaches, etc?

 

Three....it just smells fishy. I don't want to carry on gossip, as I have no idea, but the homosexual angle really does make sense here. As others have stated, even with his beliefs, there had to be women that at the very least would just be his "girlfriend" with the hopes of something more down the line, especially since he stands to make a lot of money here. Being gay could really alter all of that for him.

 

Or if he really was duped...he comes out of this looking like a completely and utter dope IMO.

[RobDeer 45]

Funeral was supposidly during the game and she told him not to come, the way to honor me is by going out and playing your best! SUPER FISHY! It's all fishy. When ESPN did their interview they asked for pictures of her, he said the family requested not to show any. They requested something else and he responded the same way.

 

He's got to come out soon I would think and say something.

[brwrsfan]

Funeral was supposidly during the game and she told him not to come, the way to honor me is by going out and playing your best! SUPER FISHY! It's all fishy. When ESPN did their interview they asked for pictures of her, he said the family requested not to show any. They requested something else and he responded the same way.

 

He's got to come out soon I would think and say something.

 

Well that's just it. If this was going on for 2-3 years with a real person...the family would know he played at ND and that he couldn't get there on a gameday. I'd find it nearly impossible that the family wouldn't take into account her BF of 3 years attending her funeral....yet nobody seemed to think anything of it when ESPN and all the other networks ran away with the story a couple of months back.

[Vgmastr]

I find it disgusting that the college and the media cares so much about this story, but this one gets totally swept under the rug.

[jerichoholicninja]

After reading the story all I can say is "who cares"? No laws were broken. No NCAA rules were violated. Manti is either a dufus or a publicity hog and either way it falls into the "no story" category. The whole thing is TMZ material.

[TooLiveBrew]

I find it disgusting that the college and the media cares so much about this story, but this one gets totally swept under the rug.

Wow.

[homer]

I find it disgusting that the college and the media cares so much about this story, but this one gets totally swept under the rug.

 

 

Well I think that's part of the story and I wouldn't say the media is ignoring it at all. Several outlets have mentioned the clear double standard that Notre Dame is calling Te'o a "victim" yet never once said that about Lizzy Seeberg.

[fondybrewfan]

There handling of this compared to the Seeberg case and also that sizzorlift death is pretty appalling; but for reasons unknown the media I have watched have had no interest going down that road.

 

To so vigilantly defend Teo but try to sweep the other stuff under the rug is rather ridiculous. Now we know that ND knew well before the NC and Teo mentioned the girlfriend numerous times after he "learned" she was a fake. Teo and Notre Dame are coming out of this looking horribly; regardless of if Teo was complicit in any of the deception. Both university and Teo have lied to cover there butts. I can somewhat understand Teo lying under the circumstances but ND is an education institution that has no business doing what they are doing.

[jjfanec]

There have been rape stories at other Universities that have been swept under the rug as well. They are handled "in house" or ignored. One newspaper might run a story and stuff is usually dug up and the university admits to mishandling the situation. I dont think sports media wants to run these stories. They dont sell. It is sad but true.

[RobDeer 45]

That is pretty bad that they really aren't talking about that at all.

 

On a lighter note, Florence Freedom (KY), (near Cincinnati where I am) independent league baseball team is doing a Manti Te'o's girlfriend bobble head night. They are giving away empty boxes. AMAZING! Haha

[hawing]

That is pretty bad that they really aren't talking about that at all.

 

On a lighter note, Florence Freedom (KY), (near Cincinnati where I am) independent league baseball team is doing a Manti Te'o's girlfriend bobble head night. They are giving away empty boxes. AMAZING! Haha

That is awesome. I hope they are not shamed out of the idea.