Clappy Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 So I don't know how many people know the story by now, but Notre Dame star linebacker, Manti Te'o, was the victim of an Internet hoax. His girlfriend Lennay Kekua, who passed away from cancer this past September six hours after Te'o's grandmother, was an elaborate figment of Te'o's imagination. Not much else is known at this point as to who was entirely behind the Kekua account and who the woman was that would to talk to Te'o pretending to be her, but there are rumors swirling that Te'o might have been involved in creating this backstory for publicity reasons. Right now, Te'o is being classified as victimized, but this story is still in the early stages of exposure. I honestly have no words right now. Whoever was involved with this backstory is despicable. Messing with another person's emotions like that is just disgusting...and if Te'o turns out to be involved in this somehow, he is just as despicable. This seriously reminds me so much of the movie Catfish like OMJ pointed out earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG19 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Watch out...Te'o could be a slimy eel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Jenkins Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I honestly don't think he would have any part of this, I'd be shocked and disappointed if he was, but I've heard so much great things about the guy from so many different people from Laie, he doesn't sound like the type to orchestrate such a huge, elaborate farce just for the sake of "publicity". The guy is devout, he's seen as an absolute saint in Laie and like I've said, I'd be extremely disappointed if he had a hand in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clappy Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 I honestly don't think he would have any part of this, I'd be shocked and disappointed if he was, but I've heard so much great things about the guy from so many different people from Laie, he doesn't sound like the type to orchestrate such a huge, elaborate farce just for the sake of "publicity". The guy is devout, he's seen as an absolute saint in Laie and like I've said, I'd be extremely disappointed if he had a hand in this. He really does seem like a sincere individual. His interview I saw back in October on Game Day with Gene Wojciechowski drove me to tears when he was talking about how he would spend hours with Lennay on the phone. Hopefully this story goes to show how people need to be careful when mixing their personal life online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Jenkins Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I don't seem to recall any news outlet, even local news, disclosing that his relationship with Lennay was strictly just an online relationship back when news of her "death" broke out, which took me by surprise a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clappy Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Speaking of news outlets, I am surprised as to how many news outlets are reporting about this story outside of ESPN. I even saw this on my local news channels as one of the top stories and even saw it on CNN around the top of the hour. Didn't realize how big a story about a hoax relationship could be. I guess it's because of how deep the story originally was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Jenkins Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 With how widespread this story's getting, this shit is definitely gonna weigh on him come the Draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clappy Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Well how Te'o handles this story will be a heavy influence on how it affects his draft stock. He needs to show how he will overcome it. His statement he made earlier today was good. How he handles himself via interviews and press conferences where he will definitely be addresses about this topic publicly is another ball game. Oh and if he somehow is revealed to be involved with this, then that will more than likely take a hit on his draft stock. Reason being: controversy and immaturity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkbitAlpha Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 This was all over the local news last night. They found a suspect for the impersonator. Apparently his name was Ronaiah Tusasosopo or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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