Deadspin: Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend story was a hoax

It's already been thrown. But, again, why fake her death? How does that help a cover up?

 

According to this USA Today FAQ, Te'o misled the media into thinking he met the fake dead girlfriend in person, admitting to Swarbrick that he had not.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/01/16/notre-dame-manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-questions-and-answers/1840951/

 

#SomePeopleGetOffOnThat

 

http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2013/01/17/manti-teo-told-interviewer-lennay-kekua-wrote-him-letter-before-stanford-game-31-days-after-she-died/

The plot thickens.

 

Before the Stanford or Wake Forest game? Which is correct?

 

Am I alone in finding the 'Catfished' explanation the most plausible, based on what we now know?

 

Seems possible, given that it seems like some of those tweets that have been pointed out have been given some cred. And who the hell did that Arizona Cardinals fullback actually meet?

 

So here is something that's not adding up for me. At some point, Te'o gets his family involved in the hoax right? Because the South Bend Trib guy who wrote the original piece with all this says tonight he got much of the info about the meeting between Te'o and GF from the dad, right? So isn't the dad selling part of the story? If Te'o was Catfished, then when did the family know? Was the dad just repeating lies his son told him without knowing they were lies?

Who talked to the South Bend Trib guy enough so he felt comfortable writing that she had "soulfull eyes?" That their hands touched gently? When Te'o tells the story in the Woj GameDay piece about learning of her death, he says his brother called to say she was gone. So who duped the brother if Manti got duped? Was the brother in on it?

WAS THE WHOLE FUCKING FAMILY IN ON IT?

 

Nev Schulman is on the case... MTV is going to get to the bottom this, I'm sure the truth will come out now

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2013/01/nev-schulman-the-creator-of-mtv-catfish-says-hes-investigating-manti-teo-story/

 

I agree with Pat Forde on this point ...

... but not so much on this point ...

Tim Burke has been an excellent reporter for years (if he focuses a bit much now on screen grabs) and Jack Dickey looks like a future stud reporter and storyteller. The work they did dwarfed what everybody else lapped up for the last four months. Hold yourself accountable before you go and chide others.

 

My theory (could be horribly wrong!): he was duped. He also lied to his family and everyone else about the girl, never revealing it was only online. Told them about meeting the girl, told them enough so the dad could talk to the reporter and who knows, maybe the dad also added some element to it. We know from the Hawaii newspaper thing he has a taste for drama, maybe there's a poet in him too. But the dad doesn't think it's a hoax because Manti doesn't think it's a hoax, but Manti does know it's only online. People lie about their relationships all the time, even, maybe even especially if you're afraid to spill the truth, to family.

That leaves many holes. The brother? Letters? Other things. But whatever comes out, I think it'll start from the two things: He was duped. He lied to family and friends, not wanting them to know it was just online.

Sorry for mentioning Occam's Razor again -- although you're too blame DD since I'm rereading Straight Man -- but that just seems much more plausible than him being the co-mastermind behind a hoax that was designed to get publicity for his Heisman campaign, which could have ended about five times during the season and wasn't expected to even exist before it, or to hide he was gay. tons of people get duped online. Tons of people lie about online relationships. Not so many people participate in hoaxes designed to earn them a trip to NYC to earn a trophy. Then again, there's a first time for anything and I'd believe just about anything on this story.

 

So does the New York Times run another blank front page with just the headline, "Introducing Manti T'eo's girlfriend"?