Manti Te'o's Girlfriend was Fake?

The supposed girlfriend

This is the most jacked up story I've heard about in a longtime if not ever. There is no way that I could do some sort of intro that would do this tail justice so I'm just going to jump right into it.

Y'all remember way back prior to the Michigan State-Notre Dame game hearing about how Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o's grandmother and girlfriend had just passed away? And how it was considered an amazing testament to his inner strength that he was even playing?

Incidentally, he kicked *ss that game with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.

Well, as it turns out the girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, was fake.


My first thought was "what the--?" As I thought about how this guy had some gall trying to do something like this and to use it throughout the season (remember the stories of him sending white roses before games and reading letters she wrote for encouragement?). Then it turns out that the two had never actually met in person.

The whole relationship was online.

If you thought that was good...it gets better!

Apparently the fictitious personality was created by a friend of Te'o's back in 2008; a pastor--yes, a pastor! A supposed man of the church!--Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. He had used Lennay in the past to mess with other people. According to a couple sources that a USAToday article referenced, the whole thing was a prank that got blown out of proportion because of Manti's fame.

A joke? Are you kidding me? I could buy that if it only lasted a week or two, but something that lasted around a year and got serious enough for Manti to say those three little words? That is a seriously demented sense of humor.

Strangely enough this could be a good thing for Manti. His play in the BCS Championship was awful. It was bad enough to lead many writers, analysts, and other so called experts to say that he was overrated; not a good enough for the NFL.

Manti and his folks filled the coaching staff in on the mess on December 26. It is probably safe to say that he found out a few days prior to that. That is a heck of a whale to process, but something he knew he had to fill the coaches in on.

Put yourself in Manti's shoes. You've discovered that you have been the victim of an elaborate hoax for sometime; one that you invested your heart and soul into. For feelings like his to develop without ever meeting in person had to require him to open up to his "girlfriend" like he probably never had. To have to talk about her "death" whenever he was interviewed falling deeper for her memory in the process (now that she was "gone). For the story of the two of them to be national news...

And then you find out it was a prank.

I don't think my mind would be too focused on doing anything but breathing for sometime (me? I'd be drinking like a fish). Even with the game being a few weeks after he likely found out I could still see him being a mental mess because of it during the National Championship.

So it sucks to say it, but all this insanity could benefit him in the end. I guess this is a great example of that whole every cloud having a silver lining thing.

Next in the news...an angry mob of Notre Dame football fans destroyed the church where Ronaiah Tuiasosopo served as a pastor...his whereabouts are unknown...

H/T to Deadspin



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