<p>I stand by my earlier post…he has broken no laws. I also think the media is “incredibly stupid” for biting this story and not being diligent about facts. Need to spread the blame people!</p>
<p>Sadly, the media does not seem to be very diligent about fact checking these days. Best to take everything with a grain of salt, or a shakerful, sometimes.</p>
<p>The lie was inevitably uncovered by the media. Don’t worry ND al, I am sure that the media will question everything and anything coming out through the Notre Dame press releases or the statements from any so called ND scholar-atheletes in future. As you said…plenty of blame to spread around.</p>
<p>In defense of the media*, their mistake was in not fact-checking. They didn’t make anyone manufacture the lie in the first place.</p>
<p>*True confession: For most of my career, I’ve been a card-carrying member of the media. The way that copy-editing/fact-checking positions are being cut and duties shifted to editors at some other corporate holding a thousand miles away is truly sad and scary.</p>
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<p>Okay, but where he clearly crossed over the line from being a foolish dupe guilty only of “embellishing” into outright lying was when he continued to publicly tell the story and refer to the girlfriend for several weeks after he had been informed that there was no such person.</p>
<p>I’d still like Manti to release his cell phone records. He claims that night after night he and she slept with their phone lines connected. That is just too weird.</p>
<p>And, whose name is on the cell phone that called him? And what about Caller ID. Did his fake person set up a phone that would give this fake girl’s name as Caller ID? And what about when that person would call others? That fake name would show up? </p>
<p>Also, he said that after she “died” he often got phone calls from her “family” and also got angry calls when “her family” found out that he was dating others. </p>
<p>His latest story seems even more unbelievable. Who pulls a stunt like this for months and months and months, then “fakes a death,” and the has others calling him pretending to be family. </p>
<p>Did anyone check out who lives at the address he gave as the destination for funeral flowers that he sent?</p>
<p>I’m assuming ESPN asked – or I hope Katie will ask – what florist he used to send these flowers. And will then check it out.</p>
<p>What crime has he committed? Should we be more angry at press for noy doing their due diligence? We can be disappointed in Manti ig he is indeed complicit, but the media ran with the unche
cked story. He did not commit a crime, did not win the Heisman and his team did not win. Just what does he stand to gain, esp at this point?</p>
<p>Maybe identiy theft of some sort? Saying another person is dead and using the pictures of another person? Maybe not a crime but ugly non the less</p>
<p>Most college sports scandals do not involve crimes. Trading rings for tattoos is not illegal. Neither is getting a noshow job. But people have expectations about behavior too.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids - I’m not sure if this is the way with most cell phones, but with the cell phones I’ve owned, I don’t get a caller ID like I would with a landline. I can see the number who is calling but no associated name or location (unless I buy into a service for that). If the number is programmed as one of my contacts, then that is the name that appears on the screen.</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing, Julie. Caller ID on my phone doesn’t work like that. It will tell you the city and state of the phone number (or at least guess) though. </p>
<p>Sea- you might be on to something. If he was using someone else’s picture and spreading lies about that “person”, he might be in some sort of legal trouble. I’m sure a lawyer will be quick to correct me :D</p>
<p>I have two possible recommendations for damage control.</p>
<p>1) Apologize. Lie low a couple of weeks. Then release a photo walking in the park with a girl holding hands. Another photo with the girl looking concerned while standing on the beach because Teo was almost bitten by an imaginary shark. Then release a video of them leaving a charity event and the girl must say, I dont dwell on the past. Whats done is done. I only care about now. Teo is a kind, incredibly terrific guy.</p>
<p>P.S. Pls. make sure the girl is not Taylor Swift or Alanis Morissette. We don’t want break-up songs haunting him and he’s now back to square one.</p>
<p>2) Apologize. Lie low a couple of weeks. Then release photos and videos going to various charity events. A person who is involved in the charity must say, I dont dwell on the past. Whats done is done. I only care about now. Teo is a kind, incredibly generous person.</p>
<p>P.S. Pls. make sure the charity is not run by Bernie Madoff or Gerald Payne.</p>
<p>Have they interviewed any of the people who were supposedly in on the prank? </p>
<p>Makes me wonder if they have been promised money from Manti to keep their mouths shut until after he gets his NFL signing bonus? </p>
<p>What did the person have to gain to play this very long term joke? That’s what doesn’t make sense. People play practical jokes on friends all the time, but this was too long term and took too much effort.</p>
<p>Yes, post #185, you’re right – that does make it hard to buy his story, hook, line and sinker. And there you go. I want to believe him. He has charisma. Question is, had he been mostly truthful up to then? – and was he lying at that point because he was in denial, or was hoping the truth (which would make him look ridiculous) wouldn’t surface, or trying to buy time to come up with an explanation that could help him save face? Or is he just, plain and simple, an uncontrollable liar? If the last one, then there likely isn’t much hope for him. Pathological liars tend to be hard to change, or so I’ve read. And that has also been my experience IRL. And one tactic in their toolbox is sowing confusion.</p>
<p>Obama and Manti graduated from the same high school. Interesting connection that has not been mentioned in the mainstream media.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure why that’s an interesting connection…</p>
<p>On the happy girlfriend front, Katherine Webb will be on Dancing With the Stars</p>
<p>Carrie Ann Inaba of DWTS also graduated from there. I agree with romani. It is not an interesting connection…other than in a six-degrees-of-separation kind of way. ;)</p>
<p>Besides, I’m pretty sure Michelle Obama is a living, breathing person.</p>
<p>*I stand by my earlier post…he has broken no laws. *</p>
<p>Since when is that the litmus test? If we found out that he had impregnated 15 different college girls last year, he wouldn’t have broken any laws, either. However, we’d all be very bothered by that. I’m being extreme, but just to demonstrate that “not breaking laws” isn’t the litmus test.</p>