Punch Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) If true, it's very bizarre: http://deadspin.com/...eason-is-a-hoax Notre Dame's Manti Te'o, the stories said, played this season under a terrible burden. A Mormon linebacker who led his Catholic school's football program back to glory, Te'o was whipsawed between personal tragedies along the way. In the span of six hours in September, as Sports Illustrated told it, Te'o learned first of the death of his grandmother, Annette Santiago, and then of the death of his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua. Kekua, 22 years old, had been in a serious car accident in California, and then had been diagnosed with leukemia. SI's Pete Thamel described how Te'o would phone her in her hospital room and stay on the line with her as he slept through the night. "Her relatives told him that at her lowest points, as she fought to emerge from a coma, her breathing rate would increase at the sound of his voice," Thamel wrote. Upon receiving the news of the two deaths, Te'o went out and led the Fighting Irish to a 20-3 upset of Michigan State, racking up 12 tackles. It was heartbreaking and inspirational. Te'o would appear on ESPN's College GameDay to talk about the letters Kekua had written him during her illness. He would send a heartfelt letter to the parents of a sick child, discussing his experience with disease and grief. The South Bend Tribune wrote an article describing the young couple's fairytale meeting—she, a Stanford student; he, a Notre Dame star—after a football game outside Palo Alto. Did you enjoy the uplifiting story, the tale of a man who responded to adversity by becoming one of the top players of the game? If so, stop reading. Edited January 16, 2013 by Punch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB Bills Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Deadspin just put this out...if he was in on it, which I can't see how he couldn't have been, do you still want this guy? http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansLanda Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Get ready to see what media attention really is like now, Manti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r00tabaga Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Weird. Really weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAWNDO Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) Interesting read, I am going to wait until he makes a statement before passing judgement. If it is true, he can kiss the first few rounds of the draft goodbye. Edited January 16, 2013 by BRAWNDO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Look on the plus side for a change: he obviously took English class seriously, and created an entire character and an entire life story surrounding her. That takes smarts and creativity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Just saw this and came here to post it. Crazy. We'll see how it all plays out, but what a weird story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Oh my goodness... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbillsfan Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 What a tool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Look on the plus side for a change: he obviously took English class seriously, and created an entire character and an entire life story surrounding her. That takes smarts and creativity! He created or the media created? If true, it will be really interesting to break down exacxtly what T'eo said vs what the media just ran with based on nothing but other media 'reports'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 He created or the media created? If true, it will be really interesting to break down exacxtly what T'eo said vs what the media just ran with based on nothing but other media 'reports'. ....and he never thought to correct them? If this is true it is a very bad reflection on him either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 He created or the media created? If true, it will be really interesting to break down exacxtly what T'eo said vs what the media just ran with based on nothing but other media 'reports'. Silence is consent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 ....and he never thought to correct them? If this is true it is a very bad reflection on him either way. No question, I wouldn't argue otherwise. But I find it interesting that our society now appearly believes media has zero responsibility to understand or confirm what they are reporting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Plus he tweeted...that would be kind of incriminating.. ....and he never thought to correct them? If this is true it is a very bad reflection on him either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Adams Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 even best case, by him not saying a word to correct it - he helped create it. Beat me to it. BA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FluffHead Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 can we get him in the third rd now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heels20X6 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I've never witness such a media darling athlete fall from grace so quickly...it's like his life unraveled at the hands of Alabama... And as others mentioned...what a massive indictment on the state of media that not one person bothered to fact check this story. Not one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 completely off my board if this is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Doug Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) No question, I wouldn't argue otherwise. But I find it interesting that our society now appearly believes media has zero responsibility to understand or confirm what they are reporting. This is true. The media has become out of control. They are absolutely reckless in their reporting and none of them are held responsible for their actions. Sure, there are some with an ounce of integrity still, but the "profession" as a whole has sank lower than lawyers (who at least will give you your day in court). Edited January 16, 2013 by kas23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 after my initial post i clicked over and that was a beast of an article that i dont have time to read it now - is it alleging that Teo faked the whole thing, or was this an online romance and he was duped somehow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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