By now, everyone has heard of the rise and fall of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o.
Te’o, a star linebacker for the Fighting Irish, rose to national prominence after reports came out that his girlfriend Lennay Kekua had died from leukemia.
Only the girlfriend didn’t exist. Kekua, who was supposedly was a graduate of Stanford University, is not a real person. Deadspin.com originally reported Wednesday that the entire story about the Te’o-Kekua story is a hoax.
Notre Dame released an official statement yesterday.
“On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators.”
The biggest question surrounding the recent turn of events is whether Te’o was involved. In an official statement released by Te’o, the linebacker said “I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.”
While Te’o statement suggests he never had in person contact with Kekua, Deadspin reports suggest otherwise.
Despite being made aware of the situation on Dec. 26, 2012, Notre Dame did not make it public. In fact, Te’o fielded questions about his “dead girlfriend” during the national championship build-up. Te’o didn’t address Kekua directly, but neither he nor Notre Dame made any reference to the hoax.
Te’o was asked, “Manti, how has the football related commotion and excitement of the past year helped you get through the turmoil you’ve faced with your grandmother and girlfriend? And how have the quiet periods been for you, given you more time to reflect? Is that a good thing or double edged?
Te’o’s response, “I think whenever you’re in football, it takes your mind off a lot of things. You know, this team is very special to me, and the guys on it have always been there for me, through the good times and the bad times. I rarely have a quiet time to myself because I always have somebody calling me, asking, do you want to go to the movies. Coach is always calling me asking me, ‘Are you okay? Do you need anything?’ I have three roommates, Zeke, Carlo and Robby Toma, who are always yelling at each other, who’s going to play Call of Duty. I’m rarely by myself, and that’s how I like it. I’m always around my guys, always around my family.”
Jack Dickey of Deadspin.com, who broke the story with Timothy Burke, appeared on the Paul Finebaum Radio Show Wednesday afternoon to discuss the news.
“I don’t think it looks good to have an imaginary girlfriend that you sort of embellish in a lot of ways,” Dickey said, “but it looks much worse, obviously, if you have an imaginary girlfriend that you kill off for public sympathy.”
