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

Well said DD.

I'm thinking that we've become a nation of suckers for stories from Punahoa HS graduates.

 

WTF is Teo wearing in that picture. He looks like he got that jacket in the closeout bin of International Male.

 

It's really simple: They were fucking with him.

Also, Double Down wins the Internet.

(Though I think there are a lot of valid reasons that we are engrossed in this, related to our profession and how we cover stories. Though DD did address that. I also think - for some of the reasons DD mentioned about projection but also the online life of young people - it has become something of a teachable moment for America. But, yes, at this kid's expense.)

 

No, a lot of these "catfish" type hoaxes are purely about the pleasure these nuts get from fucking with people's lives. The fun and feeling of power they get from the scam itself is the payoff.

 

Damn well put. This is being treated as a huge story purely because of its colossal weirdness. But it's also a remarkably inconsequential story: nobody was seriously hurt by it. It changed nothing. Other than embarrassment to a few, and amusement to others, what actually has happened here? Really not much.

If anything, perhaps we should treat it as good news, for it turns out a young girl didn't tragically die of Leukemia after all.

 

I'm shocked at the amount of cynicism on here, and I agree with almost all of what DD is saying. Teo is definitely not innocent in this matter, but I believe he is being truthful. He was the victim of a cruel prank perpetrated by someone he knew through Facebook.
The scenario, as I understand it (and believe it):

Teo is contacted online by Lennay (Tuiasasopo), and he likes her photos and she has some things in common with him.

He says he has intermittent contact with "her" for a couple of years and they become more friendly as time goes on. Their religion and beliefs mesh (and even his parents are involved in discussing Scripture via text message on a daily basis, though not sure when this begins).

Her father dies, and Teo is supportive of her and helps her grieving process, and they begin to form a bond.

She is in a car accident, and Teo begins calling to check on her, and he ends up "talking" to her while she is in a coma. He is told by someone that she recognizes his voice and reacts, even though she is in a coma. This makes him feel like he has a strong connection with her.

She recovers in May, but learns she has leukemia in June. Teo continues to offer support, and the relationship continues to grow stronger in his mind.

He tries to meet her several times, but is stood up or family members show up in her place. He even goes to Hawaii to meet her, but he never sees her (BIG red flags), but he tells his dad he did so he doesn't look the fool he apparently is.

His grandmother dies, and in a sick twist, the perpetrator tells him Lennay has died as well.

He embellishes the story and lies to other people about the nature of the "relationship" because he doesn't want to look like the social misfit he apparently is.

He gets a call from the dead girl explaining that she faked her death, and he is rightfully pissed. At this point he has no clue what to think, but he certainly suspects this is a hoax (he claims to believe it's her sister, who also doesn't exist).

He continues to talk about the girlfriend because a) he has no idea what the real story is and b) saying she is actually alive would make him look like a lunatic.

He takes the info to his parents and the school, and they find out it's a hoax. He plans to come out with his story, but Deadspin beats him to the punch, and now nobody knows what to believe.

Tuiasasopo remains in hiding, so until he can confirm or deny the story, there will continue to be speculation.

The controversy certainly affects his play in the NCG, although the Bama line certainly played its part.

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All of the stories and accounts and anonymous source reports confirm this version of events, more or less. Unless you just aren't inclined to believe anyone. I think it is entirely plausible that a young guy who is by all accounts a religious homebody, could believe this relationship to be more than it was. And I can certainly understand Teo not wanting his teammates/the public to know that he had fallen in love with a woman he had not met.

So, basically, I believe his story, but he is in no way innocent in all of this. He perpetuated the lies through the media, and once he saw the attention he was getting he played it up. And he certainly looks like a dumbass, but that is the extent of his involvement.

I also don't believe the girl in the photos is involved beyond giving them Tuiasasopo, not knowing why he wanted them. I could be wrong on that, but I'm not sure we'll ever find out.

 

Story says there was a group that showed up, and they said Lennay was supposed to be there:

"A group of people connected to Tuiasosopo showed up at the team hotel, after curfew, for the Discover BCS National Championship Game in Miami. Te'o said he knew they were at the hotel because the group took photos in the hotel lobby. Someone in the group called Te'o, saying they were waiting for Kekua to join them in the lobby and asking if she was with him. Te'o then hung up. Te'o said it did not affect his play in the game, where Notre Dame lost to Alabama 42-14."


Seems they were still messing with him. Not sure about the discrepancy or why it was taken out of the story. Maybe a bad recording or something. They have a correction on the story about that particular item (but not that specific fact), so maybe they pulled that graph to clarify it:


"Due to a transcription error, how Manti Te'o felt he played in the BCS title game was misrepresented in an earlier version of this story. Te'o said he was not affected by the story surrounding a girlfriend hoax during the game."

 

Interesting read on links between Tuiasasopo (the real villain in all of this), his family, and what he told Teo about Lennay:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/01/18/manti-teo-hoax-ronaiah-tuiasosopo/1846949/

 

I thought it was funny that in the story ESPN honored their sponsors wishes and refereed to the game as the "Discover BCS National Championship Game."

Maybe they are paid for each "Discover" mention.

 

I noticed that too. Not sure why they always do that.

 

I wonder what the tone of this thread would be if he actually won the Heisman?

 

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8860258/friend-manti-teo-recalls-car-accident-phone-call-april-28


John Pepelnjak, a junior political science and computer applications major at Notre Dame, told ESPN.com that he was playing video games with Te'o one night this past spring in Te'o's Dillon Hall dorm room when Te'o received an anticipated phone call from multiple males that Te'o believed to be the brothers of Kekua.

"As a close friend of Manti's, I feel obliged to tell a story about a situation that I had witnessed in which his feelings for Lennay were made very real," Pepelnjak said in a statement. "Back in late April or early May, I want to say within the first couple days following the supposed car crash, I can testify with 100 percent certainty that he spoke on the phone with Lennay's 'brothers' and that he did NOT create this hoax. Manti and I were playing video games in his room, and he received a phone call that he had been anxiously awaiting. Manti desperately wanted to understand what had happened and what kind of condition she was in."

Pepelnjak said Te'o kept him apprised of some of the details of the conversation during several pauses, telling Pepelnjak during one of them that he was speaking on the phone with Kekua's brothers.

"That phone call made it clear to me how much Lennay meant to him," Pepelnjak said. "Everything he said and every emotion he expressed were painfully authentic."