With that said it is very possible for this young man to meet someone on the internet and fall in love with that person without ever meeting them.
You don't say you met someone you never met. It's as simple as that. You can rationalize almost everything, in terms of him falling for someone he never met, etc... but to lie about it and use it to try and gain sympathy? No excuse, no justification, and that's all there it to it.
Gene Wojciechowski of SI says he interviewed Te'o in October and asked if he could call Kekua's family and was told her family didn't want to talk about the subject. He also asked if he could get a picture of Kekua, and Te'o said her family wouldn't want any pictures published. This was two months before Te'o alleges to discover that he was duped.
Anyone who is trying to cover for him should pay attention and consider these facts. Manti was clearly covering this up at this point.
We also know that ESPN and Notre Dame has been sitting on this story for a while. Ridiculous, inexcusable, and they have about as much credibility as Manti at this point.
Here is my updated timeline on what will happen.
A: They are going to continue with this whole, Manti was duped thing until ESPN and Notre Dame gets deadspinned again. People will put together a timeline showing how Manti and his family lied about this at various points, and probably throw in the fact that ESPN and Notre Dame was sitting on this story rather than releasing it. Eventually ESPN will have to admit that Manti lied, unless we just see journalism sink to a new low.
B: Then, we will find out Manti is gay. I'm thinking he might be, but that won't matter because he will be regardless. At that point, the only way for everyone to save face and continue the narrative is to pretend that Manti played a part in this hoax just to cover up his homosexuality. This will become another sympathy story of a gay football player trying to cope in a homophobic world. Cue more tears...
I don't like Notre Dame, but I respect them for what they have accomplished. But, the way that they have handled this reeks of an institution that is used to covering things up and getting away with it.
I went from denial, to anger, to depression, then actually said "if ND is behind this I will stop rooting for ND football."
I couldn't go that far if it was Alabama, but they certainly need fans like you to hold them accountable and clean things up. At least that's my perspective.