Deadspin is saying Te'o's girlfriend's death was a hoax created for publicity

CrimsonSEC

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Jan 8, 2007
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Even if it's true that he was completely oblivious, he exploited the situation. He DEFINITELY said he had met her IN PERSON and he definitely let the pity and praise continue knowing his story wasn't nearly the story that was being reported.

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Probably the crux of the situation as pertaining to him.
 

FriendlyIrish

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Nov 22, 2012
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Stayed away from here all night. Just came to check if you guys saw those tweets being discovered. Glad you did, Tide Fans always on top of their game.

Remember, innocent until proven guilty. Just a thought. #RTR
 

Airborne Tider

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Aug 2, 2008
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Stayed away from here all night. Just came to check if you guys saw those tweets being discovered. Glad you did, Tide Fans always on top of their game.

Remember, innocent until proven guilty. Just a thought. #RTR
No doubt. But even you guys have to see the fishiness of the situation.

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FriendlyIrish

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Nov 22, 2012
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No doubt. But even you guys have to see the fishiness of the situation.

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I went from denial, to anger, to depression, then actually said "if ND is behind this I will stop rooting for ND football."

There are still holes, but really the only one is that Manti said he saw her in Stanford. This is a lie. His dad fed off this, and said she had gone to Hawaii (or maybe said they planned a trip there, I'm not sure).

There are lots of layers, but it is starting to become uncovered.
 

FriendlyIrish

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Nov 22, 2012
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Also notable is that the hoax was discovered on 12/6, supposedly, by Manti. Yet, Manti did an interview on 12/8 during the pre-Heisman stuff and said "I don't like cancer. I have lost my grandparents and my g/f to cancer." Another statement that he may have to deal with eventually.

In the long-run, this may hurt ND more, especially if he goes to the NFL and forms new, (real) relationships with guys that have his back at the biggest stage.
 

uafan4life

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Some tweets being uncovered that may show that Manti was played for a fool...check it out:

http://collegespun.com/big-east/not...ount-tweeted-about-it-being-fake#.UPePkm81lrO

Seriously, it doesn't matter at all whether he was "duped" and it was - at least for the most part - a hoax perpetrated against him by others while he was unsuspecting.

Like I said in a previous post - none of that changes in any way the fact that he and his family knowingly, intentionally, and publicly chose to be liars regarding this situation. Regardless of when he "found out" about the "hoax", he was still knowingly, intentionally, and publicly lying his butt off during the whole time this story was garnering him national exposure.

Whether he was in on the hoax or not is irrelevant regarding this fact: he chose to continually lie about this relationship while those lies were directly benefiting him. And his family not only supported him but knowingly participated in his lies. That, in and of itself, is reprehensible. If he was in on the hoax from the get-go (or even any time before the early December date he has now publicly stated) then that merely adds to his guilt and culpability, it doesn't create it.
 

Airborne Tider

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I went from denial, to anger, to depression, then actually said "if ND is behind this I will stop rooting for ND football."

There are still holes, but really the only one is that Manti said he saw her in Stanford. This is a lie. His dad fed off this, and said she had gone to Hawaii (or maybe said they planned a trip there, I'm not sure).

There are lots of layers, but it is starting to become uncovered.
Yeah I feel the same way. I do kinda feel it was a small lie that kind of spiraled outta control. It's pretty dang interesting story though. Which also makes me wonder why ESPN didn't break it, since according to reports, they have known for at least 10 days.

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nsideirish54

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Jan 8, 2013
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This quote from Pat Forde's article that I think may be the case:

Perhaps he simply embellished aspects of the relationship because, frankly, it would be embarrassing for a star athlete to tell the truth: I corresponded with this girl online and, no, I've never actually met her.
It would take a remarkable level of naiveté to be sucked in by the perpetrators of this hoax, but Te'o could be that guy. At the risk of stereotyping, I'll offer this conjecture: Te'o is a Mormon, and there are a lot of LDS members who lack significant romantic experience when entering young adulthood. Courtship might have been a novel and/or highly idealized concept. Physical interaction might not have been at the top of his relationship wish list.
 

mittman

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Jun 19, 2009
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I went from denial, to anger, to depression, then actually said "if ND is behind this I will stop rooting for ND football."

There are still holes, but really the only one is that Manti said he saw her in Stanford. This is a lie. His dad fed off this, and said she had gone to Hawaii (or maybe said they planned a trip there, I'm not sure).

There are lots of layers, but it is starting to become uncovered.
There are a LOT of holes. It also is very clear that Te'o is not the only one with some questionable statements. This was pretty much a side story for me, and I didn't pay that much attention to the specifics of who said what when. Now some of the statements being dug back up that were stated by multiple people are just bizarre.
 

Airborne Tider

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This quote from Pat Forde's article that I think may be the case:

Perhaps he simply embellished aspects of the relationship because, frankly, it would be embarrassing for a star athlete to tell the truth: I corresponded with this girl online and, no, I've never actually met her.
It would take a remarkable level of naiveté to be sucked in by the perpetrators of this hoax, but Te'o could be that guy. At the risk of stereotyping, I'll offer this conjecture: Te'o is a Mormon, and there are a lot of LDS members who lack significant romantic experience when entering young adulthood. Courtship might have been a novel and/or highly idealized concept. Physical interaction might not have been at the top of his relationship wish list.
Also very possible. Like I said before, a small lie that Manti thought would be nothing turned against him quickly and everyone was in survival mode and it eventually blew up.

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FriendlyIrish

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Nov 22, 2012
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Yeah I feel the same way. I do kinda feel it was a small lie that kind of spiraled outta control. It's pretty dang interesting story though. Which also makes me wonder why ESPN didn't break it, since according to reports, they have known for at least 10 days.

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Yeah that is confusing. I guess ESPN isn't as willing to risk reporting something as Deadspin is.

But these tweets are lining up with what the private investigators hired by Notre Dame said (according to Jack Swarbrick in his presser today). He said they had found "conversations" between the co-conspirators. Obviously none of this may be prima facie evidence of it, but it is intriguing nonetheless.

I'm sure a lot of you are pretty upset, and I'm not going to go back and read any posts. And I won't interject too much here. Just wanted to come by and see if you had seen the recent tweets. @justinrmegahan uncovered a lot of these.
 

rickvox79

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Dec 11, 2008
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I think best case for him is that he was duped somewhat, but lied or embellished their relationship to make it sound like more than an internet only relationship. That is BEST case for him IMO because it is obvious some lies were told through all of this and so he is going to look bad either way. But obviously he'll look a whole lot worse if it is proven he was behind it or was complicit.
 

cuda.1973

Hall of Fame
Dec 6, 2009
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I'm sure a lot of you are pretty upset
Upset? Seeing him exposed as a fraud, on and off the field, is rather amusing.

Only because he plays for ND.

As for ND being involved..............

At this point, seems their only involvement is knowing long ago, and letting the fraud go forward.

Oh, wait...............they (ND, and probably NBC) didn't mind all the free "good will" PR. So, why spoil a good thing?
 

CrimsonSEC

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I have a timeline question. Did the "hoax" begin before his (and the teams') status go super nova? What I mean is, did this all get started before he and Notre Dame's season come under the national microscope?
 

cuda.1973

Hall of Fame
Dec 6, 2009
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Well, since you asked............

Nov. 28, 2009: Te'o and Kekua meet after Stanford's 45-38 victory over Notre Dame in Palo Alto, according to the South Bend Tribune: "Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te'o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes." Kekua, a Stanford student, swaps phone numbers with Te'o.
 

uafan4life

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Stayed away from here all night. Just came to check if you guys saw those tweets being discovered. Glad you did, Tide Fans always on top of their game.

Remember, innocent until proven guilty. Just a thought. #RTR
Just your three posts that I've quoted here already prove his guilt. The only question left is how much guilt.


I went from denial, to anger, to depression, then actually said "if ND is behind this I will stop rooting for ND football."

There are still holes, but really the only one is that Manti said he saw her in Stanford. This is a lie. His dad fed off this, and said she had gone to Hawaii (or maybe said they planned a trip there, I'm not sure).

There are lots of layers, but it is starting to become uncovered.
I've seen at least a half-dozen or so different quotes from Manti and other family members regarding the relationship having not been "online only" just in random perusing different articles and such posted on here, on twitter, and on facebook. In addition, there are a lot of continuity problems with just Manti's own quotes regarding the relationship. Some of those, such as exactly when she supposedly died, could be contributed to journalistic errors. However, taken as a whole, his story reeks of the pattern of a pathological liar.


Also notable is that the hoax was discovered on 12/6, supposedly, by Manti. Yet, Manti did an interview on 12/8 during the pre-Heisman stuff and said "I don't like cancer. I have lost my grandparents and my g/f to cancer." Another statement that he may have to deal with eventually.

In the long-run, this may hurt ND more, especially if he goes to the NFL and forms new, (real) relationships with guys that have his back at the biggest stage.
This is a huge, gaping hole in his story right here. Given what he supposedly knew at this time - especially if he really were "shocked" and "hurt" and "embarrassed" by it - then the most logical reaction here, especially when unsure or at least undecided of a plan of action, would be to deflect and/or ignore any questions or mentions of the girlfriend. Instead, he seems to voluntarily add her to this statement which would have the same effect if she were omitted. He didn't deflect, he didn't dodge, he didn't omit. And this statement wasn't even in response to a question about her. There was absolutely no logical reason to include her in this statement if there is any real truth to the statement he released today.

However, if he was (at any point) in on the hoax then this statement makes perfect sense, when viewed as a pattern of pathological lies.



Sure, it's possible that he was at least somewhat duped. He's still guilty, even if it were so, of knowingly lying about it in order to promote his own publicity.
 

FriendlyIrish

3rd Team
Nov 22, 2012
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I have a timeline question. Did the "hoax" begin before his (and the teams') status go super nova? What I mean is, did this all get started before he and Notre Dame's season come under the national microscope?
At this point, we don't really know the timeline of the hoax. I think all we know is that these people reached out to Manti awhile back and he started having phone conversations, talking online, emailing, etc. We know he was talking to her at least 8 months prior to the "death," which was before the summer (because of the car accident).

Her death happened on the day of the MSU game in September, our 3rd game of the season. That is when the story first broke about Manti's g/f or "close relationship" friend had passed away.
 

CrimsonSEC

Hall of Fame
Jan 8, 2007
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Brewton
Well, since you asked...........


Nov. 28, 2009: Te'o and Kekua meet after Stanford's 45-38 victory over Notre Dame in Palo Alto, according to the South Bend Tribune: "Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te'o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes." Kekua, a Stanford student, swaps phone numbers with Te'o. .
Sounds like a beard to me.
 
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FriendlyIrish

3rd Team
Nov 22, 2012
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Sure, it's possible that he was at least somewhat duped. He's still guilty, even if it were so, of knowingly lying about it in order to promote his own publicity.
He's guilty, but we don't know of what. Are you sure he is guilty of knowingly lying about it "in order to promote his own publicity."

I do think he has the general mens rea met of "knowingly lied." He omitted a fact that was necessary to correct a previous statement from being false. But we don't know specifically why he did it yet. That is just conjecture.
 

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