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

[mothershipconnection]

If you've only interacted with them online, you do NOT have a girlfriend. You have a pen pal of unknown identity. Heck, it might not even be a human. http://drrobertepstein.com/downloads/FROM_RUSSIA_WITH_LOVE-Epstein-Sci_Am_Mind-Oct-Nov2007.pdf

[JimH5]

Speculation runs rampant on this story, but Keith Law tweeted something that is plausible, and allows us to still see Te'o as a complete victim.

 

He raised the possibility that with all the football contact he's had, it's possible that he's had brain trauma that has affected his judgment.

 

Brain issues affect people differently, so anything is possible.

 

Plus, anything that I can add that is anti-football is fine with me. It's a meat grinder, people. We're watching people sacrifice their bodies and brains for our amusement. Stop watching!

[Houlie24x]

Saying that Manti Te'o has brain damage is the most ridiculous speculation of anything that has been said.

[JimH5]

He didn't say he has brain damage. He said it's plausible.

 

It allows the pieces of the puzzle to fit together.

 

It allows him to be truthful, but confused about the facts.

 

Otherwise, we're making judgment on him that says he's either stupid or lying.

[Raw Biz]

Otherwise, we're making judgment on him that says he's either stupid or lying.

 

Isn't saying he could have brain damage also making a judgment? And I won't even get into your overly-broad quote about everyone abusing their "brains for our amusement." If you don't like football, fine but leave those types of statements out of it. That reminds of the human cockfighting statement about the UFC.

[homer]

I don't think the brain damage issue is plausible. As far as I know, the only guys that have showed brain trauma are those that played in the NFL for a number of years and even those guys don't show symptoms until later on in their careers.

 

Keith Law should stick to writing about what he knows.....what that is I don't know because he doesn't know much about baseball.

[JimH5]

Isn't saying he could have brain damage also making a judgment?

 

It's a judgment, but it is one that allows a medical condition to explain things. It allows for the ND Athletic Director to still hold Te'o's character in high esteem in the face of those who thought he might have made the whole thing up for sympathy or attention. And it could be an explanation to how gullible he was to fall for such a ruse.

 

On his radio show podcast, Tony Kornheiser was talking with Mike Wilbon about Te'o's appearance on PTI, and how they were left with the impression that Te'o was much more "childlike" than they expected.

 

Maybe his brain is injured. We keep looking to him for smart, well considered answers, and maybe because of injury, he is unable to provide them.

 

I'm not convinced of that, mind you. I'm just saying the brain injury theory can be lumped in with the "he's gay and made up a girlfriend to cover his tracks" "he's a liar" "he was too dumb to see he was being played" group of speculative assessments on him.

 

Plus it gave me the opening to rip on football.

 

If you don't like football, fine but leave those types of statements out of it.

 

I used to like football. It's a great tv event. It's full of history and excitement. It binds us together as a community where few things do. I like school spirit and cheering on athletic achievement. I think I would probably enjoy playing Madden.

 

But it is just too devastating for those who play for real. And we get too wrapped up in the glory that we willfully ignore the gory.

 

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/10/30/nathan-stiles-kansas-high-school-football-player-dies-after-in/

 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/13/3179926/dan-le-batard-jason-taylors-pain.html

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/saints/2012/12/19/new-orleans-saints-tulane-devon-walker-drew-brees-macolm-jenkins/1781207/

 

http://theconcussionblog.com/2013/01/18/matt-chaney-tireless-worker/#more-6923

 

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/football/head_injuries/index.html

 

I can't sit on the couch and cheer for action on the field, when I know what it has done to Jim McMahon, Jim Tyrer, Junior Seau, John Mackey, Dave Duerson, Al Toon, Wayne Chrebet and dozens or hundreds of others.

 

My inability to shut up about that doesn't get me invited to many Super Bowl parties, but that's fine. I'm just waiting for pitchers and catchers to report.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I personally believe he was punked from the beginning. And when he was too far sucked in he rolled with it. The attention, especially publically was too much to get out of.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

[quote name="

 

I can't sit on the couch and cheer for action on the field' date=' when I know what it has done to Jim McMahon, Jim Tyrer, Junior Seau, John Mackey, Dave Duerson, Al Toon, Wayne Chrebet and dozens or hundreds of others.

 

[/quote]

 

 

I have no doubt that there are long last effects from playing football. But, every illness in a former players life shouldn't be attached to football.

 

My brother in laws father suffers from dementia just like John Mackey, and he was an accountant for more than 30 years.

 

Michael J. Fox has Parkinson's just like Muhammad Ali. I'm sure Michael J. Fox didn't get it from falling off his hover board too many times.

 

We have seen far too many suicides in society as a whole, but when a former player does it its because of the hits he took.

 

In reiterate, I believe that football does have many life long effects on people. Not every issue in a former players life should be tied to it.

 

I don't think Te'o has any type of brain injury. He is just a young man that got caught up in a fictitious tale that exploded way larger than he could control.

[Mass Haas]

Good baseball read:

 

True Life: I Was a Target for a Catfisher

 

Written by Michael Roth, U. South Carolina

[TheCrew07]

People really need to do more studying up on concussions before making broad statements about barbarism.

 

Football is the most popular sport, but it's not the most concussion prone, last time I sat through a presentation (about 3 years ago) it wasn't even in the top 3. The difference is that in many other sports concussions have gone undiagnosed for years.

 

At the time concussion rates per athlete:

 

1. Boxing (self explanatory)

2. Soccer (there's nothing safe about redirecting a ball traveling at over 60 MPH with your head)

3. Girls Basketball (I wasn't surprised by this having watched a ton of GBB over the years, my father and sister both coach it)

4. Football

 

I'm a huge hockey fan, but I have to believe that if hockey wasn't such a tough guy sport it would outpace football easily. The helmets aren't as good as a football helmet and there's no cushioning feature to ice. Take Koskie's career ending concussion when he was playing for the Brewers... there's simply no way that was his first concussion, he was probably concussed multiple times playing hockey in his youth and never even knew it, in fact his situation screamed of a secondary concussion.

 

Furthermore it's not getting a concussion that's necessarily the issue, it's what happens after the original. If you return to action too soon and get a secondary concussion the effects can be devastating. If you let yourself fully recover before returning to action you'll suffer no long term effects. In fact the majority of us older than say 35 have had multiple concussions, I've been knocked out 3 times in my life playing with friends, riding bike, etc. Getting knocked out is the same as getting a concussion. Maybe the most recent 2 generations haven't had as many concussions, but it's hard to get concussed when you're sitting on your couch playing video games.

 

I don't even want to get into the culture of hysteria surrounding concussions such as parents, coworkers, and young athletes self diagnosing "concussions". For the most part family doctors are a waste of a time as well, the ole "no activity and come back and see me in 2 weeks if it's still a problem" is a crock, it's the standard "treatment" for any number of ailments. If you want the truth, you need to seek out people who know and are doing research, and the vast majority of them are in sports medicine. In case anyone is wondering, the simplest way to avoid concussions is to remain hydrated properly, recent studies have shown a link between dehydration and concussions. Let's not forget that training methods were so worthless that athletes back in the day were given salt pills, which actually dehydrated them further, and serious collisions were excused as "getting your bell wrung". We've come a long way since those times.

 

So I guess to summarize I grow weary of the supposed inherent barbarism in football, lets revisit this discussion when headers are outlawed from soccer or when all young women have enough core/lower body strength to control their own bodies and not fall into one another playing basketball. Girls basketball has come amazingly far in the last 20 years, but there's also a reason why knee injuries and concussions are so prevalent in the sport. All sport carries varying degrees of different kind of risks but singling out football is an extreme disservice to the truth.

 

Lou Gehrig's disease has been tied to concussions and he never even got to play college football. All it takes it being hit in the head by a pitch and then running into a wall in the OF a few days later and the brain my never recover. I cannot stress enough how important it is to be fully recovered from a concussion before participating in any sport again. Sometimes recovery is less than a week, sometimes it's a month, every person is different but the key is avoid a secondary concussions because they are devastating. All the football players which have been written about so much over the last couple of years all returned to a game multiple times after being concussed. They carry just as much responsibility as the team, team doctors, or the NFL. I never carried smelling salts with me unto the field... that's a personal choice.

 

I made that mistake once as a young coach, I let a kid talk me out of taking him out of the game because he said he was fine, and then he got hit again 3 plays later and missed 5 weeks of his senior season. It was a close game and I didn't bother check his eyes, or test him, I just took his word for it, called the defense, and put him back in the game. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him or how lucky we were that he only missed 5 games but football wasn't the reason he got a secondary concussion, I was the reason. I should have known better, even in the late 90s I was fully aware of the dangers of concussions, I knew the signs and simple sideline tests, but I was too caught up in the moment. That was over 10 years ago and sports medicine has come a long way since then, and it will continue to evolve as more information becomes available.

 

I just the think the benefits of being an athlete far outweigh the risks for the average person and I'd rather not see any sports eliminated because they are "too dangerous". I'd rather people take a sensible approach to risk management and consider all of the facts, not just what's highly publicized.

[JimH5]

People really need to do more studying up on concussions before making broad statements about barbarism.

 

There is mounting evidence that routine, non-concussive injuries that happen in the general course of football games (and other sports) can lead to CTE.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/sports/study-bolsters-link-between-routine-hits-to-head-and-long-term-brain-disease.html

 

All sport carries varying degrees of different kind of risks but singling out football is an extreme disservice to the truth.

 

If you want to continue to enjoy football, by all means, have at it. It's the most popular sport, with no indication that people are turning away. For many, the tradition and excitement and strategy are worth it. Players play knowing the risks, and if they want to take them, who am I to stop them? Right? That's the rationale..

 

But I just don't have the stomach for it. I've been to autograph shows and have seen old broken men hobble up to sign their names. Johnny Unitas was injured so severely that he couldn't hold a pen late in life.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2002/09/11/wrecking_yard/

 

I went to elementary school with Jim Melka, a former Badger star and NFL player. His son was severely and permanently injured in a HS game some years ago.

 

http://www.livinglakecountry.com/lakecountryreporter/policeandcourts/60002692.html

 

When we lived in Jacksonville, a local kid was paralyzed in a HS game.

 

http://www.jttownsendfoundation.org/about-jt/

 

We recently saw the story on Keith McCants and how his addiction to pain killers had him turn to street drugs before turning his life around.

 

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/only_on_fox10/the_interview/the-interview-keith-mccants

 

If we saw a young woman cutting herself or doing drugs or engaging in other self destructive behavior, we'd try to help her to stop. But if a young man engages in self destructive behavior, like holding onto a football as he's being laid out on a crossing pattern, we cheer for more. We cared more about Michael Vick's dogs than we cared about his teammates.

 

I just can't enjoy football any more. I know most of these guys, even if they have avoided brain trauma, will suffer pain in their backs and knees and shoulders the rest of their lives. I like Aaron Rodgers. He seems like a charming and funny and smart guy. How can I wish for him to do anything other than to retire now before he becomes broken like so many others?

 

In case anyone is wondering, the simplest way to avoid concussions is to remain hydrated properly, recent studies have shown a link between dehydration and concussions.

 

Do you have a link to support this? I couldn't find anything linking being well hydrated with avoiding concussions, only how being dehydrated could make a person give signals to others that might lead them to believe he had been concussed.

[Raw Biz]

Football players are making a choice. They know the risks involved. Just like deep-sea fishermen know the risks of falling into the water, roofers know the risk of falling off a roof, and soldiers know the risk of being killed in battle. Should we outlaw all of those things as well? There are risks in everything and most of these people are voluntarily taking these risks.

 

Also Jim, your articles could just as easily be about any other sport. There are old broken men in every sport. It's just a part of getting older. There are also men who's bodies are still holding up. Players have been paralyzed in other sports too, not just football and not just contact sports. Christopher Reeve fell off a horse so should equestrian events be outlawed too? And there are also drug abusers in every sport as well.

 

As for your first article, it even says that it doesn't definitively prove that the head injuries were causing the CTE and they couldn't figure out why other athletes in the same conditions didn't develop CTE. It probably has something to do with the fact that everybody's body is different and will react differently. Like TheCrew said, it's not so much the initial impact and injuries that are the problem, it's how they are being treated. And that comes from trainers, doctors, etc. which don't really have anything to do with the sport itself. It doesn't necessarily matter how the brain trauma occurred but rather how it was treated.

 

Like I said, if you don't like football, fine. But to use concussions as a reason to dislike football, when concussions are prevalent in almost every sport, is a poor excuse. I think it's just become a bigger deal in football because the hits that cause the concussions look much more violent than say hitting a soccer ball with your head or slipping on a basketball court.

[Funketown]

Football players are making a choice. They know the risks involved. Just like deep-sea fishermen know the risks of falling into the water, roofers know the risk of falling off a roof, and soldiers know the risk of being killed in battle. Should we outlaw all of those things as well? There are risks in everything and most of these people are voluntarily taking these risks.

 

Of course, but it's still worthwhile to consider whether we can effectively reduce those risks without taking actions that are excessively costly. It's also obviously important that players actually do understand the risks they're facing. When it comes to soccer, I don't see any effective way to reduce concussions. The jury is obviously still out on whether the NFL can do so without altering the game too much.

 

Back to the topic, I usually expect that with these sports stories where an athlete repeatedly says he is innocent, he's full of it. In this case though I'm leaning toward the theory that Te'o was in a moderately significant relationship with this girl and embellished it when speaking to the media, but that he wasn't in on the hoax. I wouldn't be surprised either way, but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and not hold it against the guy because it seems fairly likely that he got Catfished.

[jerichoholicninja]

I think most people's problem with concussions and football is that the NFL is doing its best to deny any connection and shirk any responsibility. At least it is with me.

[JimH5]

Football players are making a choice. They know the risks involved. Just like deep-sea fishermen know the risks of falling into the water, roofers know the risk of falling off a roof, and soldiers know the risk of being killed in battle. Should we outlaw all of those things as well? There are risks in everything and most of these people are voluntarily taking these risks.

 

I'm not calling for the outlaw of anything. I'm saying that football doesn't do it for me anymore, now that I have seen what it has done to many of its players. Some of it takes the form of brain damage, and other damage is just a lifetime of crippling pain. It takes the finest athletes and often turns them into disabled people. That's why I call it a meat grinder.

 

As for fishermen, they're providing food. Roofers are providing shelter. Soldiers are providing safety. Football players are providing entertainment. That's the difference.

 

Also Jim, your articles could just as easily be about any other sport. There are old broken men in every sport. It's just a part of getting older. There are also men who's bodies are still holding up. Players have been paralyzed in other sports too, not just football and not just contact sports. Christopher Reeve fell off a horse so should equestrian events be outlawed too? And there are also drug abusers in every sport as well.

 

There are nearly 4000 former NFLers suing the league for the long term damage they have suffered. Even if half of them are invalid claims, that's still almost 2000 guys. How many former MLBers are in Jim McMahon's condition, at his age, as a result of playing the game?

 

You're right, accidents and injuries can happen everywhere, but did you read the Lebatard column on Jason Taylor and the things he did to keep playing? Some people see his actions as heroic. I see them as self-abuse not to be celebrated.

 

As for your first article, it even says that it doesn't definitively prove that the head injuries were causing the CTE and they couldn't figure out why other athletes in the same conditions didn't develop CTE. It probably has something to do with the fact that everybody's body is different and will react differently. Like TheCrew said, it's not so much the initial impact and injuries that are the problem, it's how they are being treated. And that comes from trainers, doctors, etc. which don't really have anything to do with the sport itself. It doesn't necessarily matter how the brain trauma occurred but rather how it was treated.

 

I think it says that CTE is caused by total head trauma. I don't know how that is measured. Some trauma can be from incidental contact, and some from concussions of varying degrees. The football culture is a warrior brotherhood culture, where players feel an obligation to hide brain injuries from their coaches and to rush back, lest someone else take their jobs. And the problem with football is that damage isn't limited to brains. Spinal fusion, hip replacement, knee replacement. . .guys smashing into guys will do that.

 

Like I said, if you don't like football, fine. But to use concussions as a reason to dislike football, when concussions are prevalent in almost every sport, is a poor excuse. I think it's just become a bigger deal in football because the hits that cause the concussions look much more violent than say hitting a soccer ball with your head or slipping on a basketball court.

 

I'm using more than concussions, but I get your point about the dangers of soccer and hockey and other dangerous sports. I don't care about either of them, for other reasons. I just never liked the games to begin with. Dropping football was a conscious decision for me. I used to like it, but now it feels dirty.

 

When they say someone has left it all out there on the field, it's not just a cliche. They live shorter lives. I feel bad knowing they're hurting themselves all in the name of entertainment.

 

Here's another piece to consider from Malcolm Gladwell:

 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell

[DHonks]

kind of crazy that the media has only reported parts of the initial deadspin story. For instance, several students at my school were talking about it today and had no clue that the initial story had already named the alleged perpetrator. I also feel it's worth noting that I've taught several Mormons. All are great people, some can be naive (like any group), and generally they only date Mormons. Seeing as Te'o is at Notre Dame, I doubt he has many Mormon options to date in Indiana. If a seemingly attractive, wonderful person attempts to make contact (in this case, stalk) online, it's quite plausible that Te'o was duped and not in on it. I love that some in the media are wondering why he didn't attend her funeral or visit after the car accident....um, he's a college athlete that likely doesn't have enough money/time to travel 4 hours by air.

 

There are still lots of questions. But seriously, this stuff happens all the time on the internet. It's why our parents warned us when we were teens. As a teacher we were given lessons as to how easy it is for someone to cyberstalk a student. It's remarkably easy...so scary!

[Point Beer Is Best]

Katie Couric asked Te'o if he was gay, which he vehemently denied. Dr. Phil interviewed Ranaiah Tuiososopo, who admitted that he felt the relationship between he and Te'o was romantic (at least from hs perspective). He admitted to being gay himself, and then backtracked to calling himself "confused.". I think we're all confused at this point.