What a nutty story about Manti Teo.
No dead girlfriend. The girlfriend didn't even exist as a real person.
Was he part of the hoax or was he hoodwinked?

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

Fraud. So, so many holes in his story:

1) He now says he had an "online relationship" and he was part of a cruel hoax. The ND brass says it was "exclusively online". However according this South Bend tribune article, they met at the Stanford/ND game in 2009 and that both Manti and his father spoke to her:

Lennay Kekua was a Stanford student and Cardinal football fan when the two exchanged glances, handshakes and phone numbers that fateful weekend three seasons ago.

Kekua, who eventually graduated from Stanford, was, in fact, doing so well that she was released from the hospital on Sept. 10. And Brian Te'o was among those congratulating her via telephone.

2) In this ESPN article, it says they talked every night and that the funeral was held on the day of the Michigan game, right after she told him not to miss a game if she dies. Convenient. Why would the family of a terminally ill girl dating a high-profile college football player hold the funeral on game day and why would he not find that a bit odd?

3) The 9/22 South Bend Tribune states his girlfriend died of leukemia and his grandmother died less than 24 hours later. The 10/12 South Bend tribute states that the grandmother dies shortly before the girlfriend. Other reports state that Manti's family received a text message of condolences from the girlfriend about his grandmother.

All the stories of personal encounters and phone conversations were clearly lies. I don't believe for one second that he and his family went a full year without ever seeing or speaking with this girl, asked no questions about that, told the media stories about them meeting and speaking on the phone and yet were the victim of some cruel hoax.

I hate it for the kid because the story about his grandmother is clearly true and that had to be a tough thing to deal with but unless we get evidence to the contrary, it sure seems like the girlfriend was a fabrication and not somebody pulling one over on him. Just works out too nicely that the South Bend paper's Heisman push for him began about a week after his "girlfriend" died. If he really did pull all of this for publicity, it is truly sad.

He might have been hoodwinked initially, but then decided to run with the story and just let the lies keep piling up. Shame on ND for not releasing the information when they found out on 12/26.

I don't think he was ever hoodwinked. From what I have heard, I believe he was in on it from the start. His efforts now are an attempt to salvage his draft status.

I'd love to interview this kid, none of his story adds up. The saddest thing is that if he truly was in on it, he used his grandmother's death as an opportunity to double his pity points and boost his Heisman campaign.

Catfished.... Seriously Catfished...

(And those that don't understand the Catfish moniker... you need to watch the documentary!)

What about the whole South Bend Tribune article about how they met at the Notre Dame/Stanford game, locked eyes, shook hands and exchanged phone numbers? He's now saying it was a completely online relationship, which is contradictory. The SBT has since taken down the article but here is a cached link to it:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... ent=safari

What about her funeral? He says that it was her dying wish for him not to miss a game, then the service is held on the day of the Michigan game. Works out nicely. Did he not send flowers or get an address for the funeral? I find it very hard to believe that someone's girlfriend of over a year passes away and he has no idea where the funeral is being held.

Why did the media not request interviews from her family after she passed? Why was it never once mentioned in the months of coverage that this was an online relationship?

He says he got the phone call telling him it was a hoax on December 6. Why then, on December 8 at the Heisman Presentation, did he say "I really got hit with cancer. I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer"?

He wants us to believe that he was tricked into an online relationship which contradicts his story about how they met, talked to some unnamed female on the phone every night while she was "in the hospital", finds out she dies six hours after his grandmother and he then makes no attempt to find out where the funeral is or how to contact her family? If you buy that then give me a call, I've got some real estate to sell you.

He wanted the Heisman and this gave him a nice back story from which he benefited greatly. Still waiting for him to speak, he's had a month and a half to get his story straight.

And he also mentioned how he attributed much of his football playing success to his devotion/commitment to Christ this past year. What a crock of sh!t.