Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)

**jonboy79** · 01-18-2013, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot

I remember thinking the fake girlfriend might be a beard as I was reading the story. Between Mormon family, Catholic school, football culture, and Polynesian values, he has a massive MASSIVE amount of cultural baggage coercing him to conform.

Heck, I wonder if the alleged "Hoaxster" who was always meeting Teo in places the fake girlfriend was supposed to is or was Teo's actual significant other. It sorta makes sense. Have your secret boyfriend make a twitter account of a female, now you two can flirt and tweet and chat all you want and no one blinks.

I doubt the truth will ever come out, but if it turns out he's really simply the victim OR this was a desperate attempt to stay in the closet out of shame, I would be fine with the Ravens selecting him.

As NC says, if he comes out and says he's either Gay or wanted to remain a virgin until marriage, and so he made this up to get peopel off his back, then this drops his value exactly ZERO to me. The Alabama game may have brought him down to our range, and if the above is correct, then I'd be happy to draft him.

Now if he continues to claim he was simply a victim, then it drops his value significantly as I'd seriously question his intelligence, maturity, and honesty.

**festivus** · 01-18-2013, 10:42 AM

Hm.

I expect him to refuse to discuss it publicly as much as possible, and to hint he still thinks it was a hoax when he's forced to do so.

As far as I'm concerned that doesn't affect his value one bit. Unless HR's first guess was right - that there's a money trail and some dirty deeds here - I don't really care about his made up girlfriend or the reason for it. Certainly if he is gay he is entitled, even now, to keep that to himself.

edit: I *do* care about what this says about our credulity and journalism and our society. I just don't care about the presence or absence of an actual girlfriend or the reason why some 22 (or whatever) year old kid pretended she existed.

**NCRAVEN** · 01-18-2013, 12:24 PM

Interesting stuff... still not the whole story:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...irlfriend-hoax

**festivus** · 01-18-2013, 02:26 PM

It's another wrinkle, NCRaven, but as you imply it leaves many questions unanswered. He let *everyone*, his own family included, think he'd met this person. According to his own story he must have been communicating with her for ages without benefit of Skype or anything.

It's still an absurd story. Some prankster's cousin has 8 hours a night to spend tricking some guy she doesn't know?

This was an interesting post, too; it shouldn't get lost in the shuffle:

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Delaware's QB, Tim Donnelly, was on The Junkies this morning. He knew Te'o in High School.

He is saying that Te'o had a "girlfriend" all through high school that nobody ever saw and who Te'o claimed lived in another state.

Segment 9 of today's podcast.

**NCRAVEN** · 01-19-2013, 03:56 PM

After hearing Manti's side of the story I believe him and his side 99.999%.

I think I hit the nail on the head when I said he was duped and was embarrassed and told a few white lies to keep people off his back.

**festivus** · 01-19-2013, 09:37 PM

Link to the SI piece covering his statement.

I find it very, very hard to believe somebody could be that stupid. I'd rather believe he was gay.

These new developments do push the needle back in Te'o's favor though I remain completely at a loss to explain why so many people would devote so many hours to deceiving someone so badly.

And I'm also at a loss to explain why somebody would date someone for *years* without wondering why he could never see her on Skype. It doesn't sit well with me.

**Roland of Gilead** · 01-19-2013, 09:53 PM

Manti's former ND roommate says he wasn't very tech savvy and didn't have a laptop during his first two years of college.

"Funny thing, I think he went to classes more than I did and I'm an engineering major," Tran said. "During regular season, he would barely go out. Most of the times, he didn't have the time to with his training schedule. He stayed focused 100 percent. I remember one time, a football player came into our room drunk and was talking to Manti, asking him why he didn't go out with them. Manti responded, 'Because we have practice tomorrow.' He was definitely sociable. He knew most people in the dorm and everyone knew who he was, obviously."

Tran said he knew nothing about Lennay Kekua, the online girlfriend who supposedly died of leukemia during the season but, it turns out, didn't even exist. Tran said Te'o wasn't particularly tech savvy, saying the linebacker didn't own a laptop his first two years at college.

"He was using my laptop to do his homework. If he was Skyping his family he would use my laptop," Tran said.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...speak-publicly

This appears to be the perfect storm of a sheltered life (the Hawaiian, Mormon, Notre Dame, and college football communities are all very isolated) and some assholes with a history of taking advantage of famous people. I don't fault Manti or this one bit. He is a caring, trusting, glass half full kind of guy who put his trust out there and got blind sided. He will come out stronger for having gone through this experience.

**Sirdowski** · 01-19-2013, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by NCRAVEN

After hearing Manti's side of the story I believe him and his side 99.999%.

I think I hit the nail on the head when I said he was duped and was embarrassed and told a few white lies to keep people off his back.

Good call.

Just based off of what I had heard about him as a person I was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

**RavenusMaximus** · 01-19-2013, 10:21 PM

I don't know if this has been brought up, but is it possible that he might be gay and this was just part of the cover up?

edit:just read previous posts and see that it has been brought up and very much considered.

**JAB1985** · 01-20-2013, 05:36 AM

I kind of lean more in his favor after his comments but not entirely because some things still make little sense. So now this girl that he referred to as his soulmate and talked about endlessly inthe media as an inspiration, he didnt even talk to but once in awhile for A month or so at a time? Didnt want to be bothered with her when she wanted to console him during his grandmas death, but right after her death publically spoke about how much she meant to him, and still didnt even think of going to see her in the hospital or funeral. He may have not been in on it, but still seems he played it up for attention and regardless of the final thought of how much he did or didnt embellish, is still a liar.

As far as draft position, im sure teams are going to ask him about it and as long as he doesnt slip up and say something else i doubt it effects him though. He still going to drop but because hes not as strong at the point of attack as initally thought, thanks to alabama.

**jonboy79** · 01-20-2013, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by festivus

Link to the SI piece covering his statement.

I find it very, very hard to believe somebody could be that stupid. I'd rather believe he was gay.

These new developments do push the needle back in Te'o's favor though I remain completely at a loss to explain why so many people would devote so many hours to deceiving someone so badly.

And I'm also at a loss to explain why somebody would date someone for *years* without wondering why he could never see her on Skype. It doesn't sit well with me.

I'm still with you. I'm a "bit" more inclined to believe him after his interview, but it's still a mess that makes no sense. Literally, the Gay angle is the only sense that can be made, and Tuiasospas admission and Te'o's interview don't change it at all.
Serious inconsistancies I can't et past include;
He skyped his parents but not his soulmate
A prankster "catfished" him with help from at least 2 other people for almsot 3 years sometimes up to 8 hours a night. Nearly a full-time job for 3 years, for NO GAIN WHATSOEVER>
Money was never a part of the "scam".
He has shown he is willing to lie, that's a scary slippery slope.
3 years of a "relationship" and no real life meetings, no hospital vists, etc.

It still just doesnt sit well....

**ActualSpamBot** · 01-20-2013, 10:15 AM

My sister lives in Hawaii and her take was basically the same as mine. He's either gay or very sheltered an naive. (A possibility she stressed was very possible.)

Hawaiian culture is apparently quite different from mainland American culture. She told me that people there, specifically life time islanders, are a bit... Provincial... Is a nice way to put it.

The idea that he was behind some sort of scheme all along is simply too far fetched for most islanders to consider.

At this point I'm hoping it screws up his draft stock just enough to drop him to pick 32.

**HoustonRaven** · 01-20-2013, 12:23 PM

I think you can rule the gay angle out at this point.

I don't recall the news outlet (NY Post maybe?) interviewed a bunch of players from high school and ND on and off the record and the dude has a long history with the ladies.

It's really starting to come out that this guy was / is naive. Makes him a little dopey and he's going to get killed in a pro locker room from all the joaning, but at the end of the day, he's going to get paid and I don't think he's going to drop all that much.

**festivus** · 01-23-2013, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Makes him a little dopey

Come on, Houston.

You may be right about everything else but this is way more than "a little" dopey.

In the best possible universe for him he was still dumb as a bag of hammers.

**HoustonRaven** · 01-23-2013, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by festivus

Come on, Houston.

You may be right about everything else but this is way more than "a little" dopey.

In the best possible universe for him he was still dumb as a bag of hammers.

How dare you insult a bag of hammers that way!?!?

**Dade** · 01-24-2013, 04:55 AM

Wow HR. Haven't heard anyone use "joaning" in long time. Takes me back...

**The Excellector** · 01-24-2013, 11:56 AM

This still smells of bullshit. NFL Front Office personnel will likely find out the truth behind the scenes, if they haven't already, during the draft process.

**NCRAVEN** · 01-24-2013, 04:21 PM

To me this story was interesting at first, now that his side seems pretty credible to me, it's lost it's luster. But here is the audio of the dude (who sounds like a lady) pretending to be T'eo's girlfriend if anyone is interested.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-...20--ncaaf.html

**RavenusMaximus** · 01-25-2013, 04:24 AM

His side doesn't seem credible to me at all. I wish Vegas had odds on if he is gay or not because I would bet the house on it no matter what the odds were. I would bet the guy who confessed to the hoax is his gay "friend" who tried to help him hide the fact, because we all know that no matter how good an athlete is, a gay teammate is not welcome in the locker room with the other guys and that certainly would effect his stock value going into the NFL.

I also don't care if he was seen dating chicks before. I know a girl who dated a guy in high school for over a year and they had sex multiple times, and he discovered later that he was gay.

Also, why would anyone devote so many hours over so many years to perpetuate a hoax that had no chance for a financial payoff, unless his boyfriend got a huge NFL contract? That does not add up. I'm not saying some guys ain't dumb. but nobody is that dumb, and that goes for both of these guys.

**NCRAVEN** · 01-25-2013, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by RavenusMaximus

His side doesn't seem credible to me at all. I wish Vegas had odds on if he is gay or not because I would bet the house on it no matter what the odds were. I would bet the guy who confessed to the hoax is his gay "friend" who tried to help him hide the fact, because we all know that no matter how good an athlete is, a gay teammate is not welcome in the locker room with the other guys and that certainly would effect his stock value going into the NFL.

I also don't care if he was seen dating chicks before. I know a girl who dated a guy in high school for over a year and they had sex multiple times, and he discovered later that he was gay.

Also, why would anyone devote so many hours over so many years to perpetuate a hoax that had no chance for a financial payoff, unless his boyfriend got a huge NFL contract? That does not add up. I'm not saying some guys ain't dumb. but nobody is that dumb, and that goes for both of these guys.

He could be gay, I really don't know, or care. Your complete lack of evidence aside, don't you think there would be at least one part of this that would conflict with his story to show he was in on it? Just one?