<p>It will be interesting to see how this affects his draft status. He is clearly a formidable player.</p>
<p>I think there are going to be some seriously angry journalists around. They like to generate their own screw-ups. Not be misled by people they believe too young or stupid to have agendas.</p>
<p>I hope this guy gets the help he needs. To hoax something like this is just sick. There’s playing a prank and then there’s making up a girlfriend and faking her death. Way way way too far.</p>
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<p>It actually sounds like he did something like this. So, they conned a pretty girl into doing it and she did.</p>
<p>From the deadspin story, previously linked:</p>
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<p>romani,</p>
<p>ND’s position is that Te’o believed in the girl; he was the victim, not the perpetrator.</p>
<p>Then whoever perpetrated the hoax. Whether it’s him or anyone else, he/she needs help.</p>
<p>I’m so confused with this story. From what I understand either Te’o pretended he had a fake dead GF or Te’o had an internet relationship with a girl named Reba who pretended she was a Stanford student named Lennay.</p>
<p>Possibly the football player concerned is just not very intelligent. At all. Can he really be taking academic courses in a remotely serious college?</p>
<p>I am glad he did not win the Heisman. It is just another reason for me not to like ND football. I was very happy that Bama rolled, rolled and rolled again and exposed how over rated they were.</p>
<p>This isn’t the first non-existent person in the history of college football…first there was Johnny Chung. [Plainfield</a> Teacher’s College - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plainfield_Teacher’s_College]Plainfield">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plainfield_Teacher’s_College)</p>
<p>I am glad he did not win the Heisman. It is just another reason for me not to like ND football. I was very happy that Bama rolled, rolled and rolled again and exposed how over rated they were.</p>
<p>yes, and it exposed that Manti is not the “formidable” player that had been portrayed. </p>
<p>At half-time and after the game, he had such a stunned look, that you couldn’t help but think that he was thinking, “Well, there goes my chances of being a first round pick.”</p>
<p>And apparently, the guy who did it was Marcus Tuiasosopo, who’s my sisters friend’s cousin lol. What a bizarre story!</p>
<p>Explanations so far by Manti and ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick of what really happened are entirely believable…except for the who, what, when, and where parts. Manti should hook up with Casey Anthony…they could trade fantasy stories with each other.</p>
<p>[Q&A</a> with St. Petersburg man who helped break story of Manti Te’o’s fictional girlfriend - Tampa Bay Times](<a href=“http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/qampa-with-st-petersburg-man-who-helped-break-story-of-manti-teos/1270949]Q&A”>http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/qampa-with-st-petersburg-man-who-helped-break-story-of-manti-teos/1270949)</p>
<p>I just dont understand this. How can you date someone who doesnt exist for this long? I have dated some pretty cold numbers but this is ridiculous. </p>
<p>With woman falling out of the trees how is this fake persona thing even supposed to work? Even if some of his buddies are going “hee hee hee” over in the corner why do they think this will work? He’d have to kick two actual girls out of his room even to open her first email.</p>
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<p>If Manti is not in on the hoax then there are a bunch of very puzzling questions hanging out there. For example, where did the flowers? He said he sent white roses to her family when she died. To who/where did he send them? </p>
<p>There are dozens of similar supposed interactions with the fake girlfriend and her family that he has publicly talked about. If those people don’t exist but Manti is innocent, then with whom was he interacting?</p>
<p>I don’t get it either and I really don’t believe the “explanations” I have heard so far.</p>
<p>He supposedly “met” this woman in 2009 and for the last six months of her “life” they talked for “hours every night.” In all that time they never skyped? (If they did - didn’t he notice that she didn’t look like her pictures?) Where did he send the white roses to when she died? Who were her “family members” that he talked with?</p>
<p>Teo was an Academic All-American at ND, so he’s not an idiot. Maybe he was incredibly naive and gullible, but I don’t think he’s THAT naive and gullible.</p>
<p>Sigh, ok I’ve read more and I’m more and more convinced he was in on it. Too many inconsistencies. It makes zero sense.</p>
<p>And before the next round of PMs declaring his innocence, just know that I’m not responding at all. I’ll discuss this matter here.</p>
<p>It’s a strange story, made even stranger with Notre Dame’s response. Does anyone feel Notre Dame has a stake in this?</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Do you mean that they knew all along? Probably not. They just want some damage control. They’ve known since the day after Christmas, and they certainly knew that the “dead girlfriend” story would get told and retold during the build-up of the BCS game two weeks later, yet they did nothing to stop it. </p>
<p>They obviously didn’t want Manti upset by negative media or public attention before the game. And, they probably didn’t want this coming out before the NFL draft.</p>
<p>This whole situation is just bizarre. I initially thought T’eo had to be involved, but the fact that Jack Swarbrick came out solidly behind him is changing my mind. Notre Dame could have done damage control without total support. They had an independent investigation done, and they’re standing behind T’eo and the fact that he was not part of the hoax. I’m not a Notre Dame fan, but I don’t think they’d step out as far as they have if they didn’t have evidence to convince them that T’eo is the victim here. It’s just sad all around, though, and frightening to think that there are people sick enough to weave this terrible web.</p>
<p>“And the ability to find out a fake identity is so easy – just ask for a photograph with a specific pose, or holding up a newspaper, etc.”</p>
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<p>No, they couldn’t have.
These “catfishers” use photos from other people’s online accounts.
If the catfisher complied and did post a real photo of themselves in the directed pose, it would be obvious that it doesn’t match the “original” photographs.</p>
<p>In the last episode of “Catfish,” the fake girlfriend was actually a man. I think the difference in a photograph would be very apparent.</p>
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<p>Correct. That is still a possibility.
There are those who think Te’o created a fake gf in order to “hide” his sexual orientation.</p>