Manti's (Not So Real) Dead Girlfriend

[JMM28]

Early leader in the clubhouse for scumbag of the year. Manti T'eo.

http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax

But in all seriousness this may be one of the better investigative journalism stories in recent memory. Great work by Tim Burke and Jack Dickey at deadspin.

[Beninator]

Let's go out there and win one for Nosuch Dame! smh

[tornado]

Te'o may not have been involved and may have been hoaxed himself -
hard to know who is telling the truth and who is lying here....


I see a lot of hoaxers with online sites begging for cash donations for the kids in Newtown when the $$ really ends in the hoaxers' pockets..
apparently this is the latest fad...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/college-football/story/_/id/8851033/story-manti-teo-girlfriend-death-apparently-hoax

[jeffsu]

Makes you wonder which "quotes" assigned to him and his family are true. But if the ones out there are true, then he (and his father) admitted to Manti and her meeting up multiple times, including in Hawaii...

Tough to think he wasn't a part of the hoax. The alleged jokester was a childhood friend or something, too.

[Future Walk-On]

Has anyone seen the film Catfish? I wonder if this went down exactly like that movie... which would mean that Mantei NEVER met this "girl" in real life.....


or he HAS to be in on it and its all f'ed up...

[Da Coach]

I think that could be a reasonable explanation- that it was a hoax perpetrated on Te'o, but then he went along with it and embellished it to benefit from the publicity.

[JMM28]

If anyone believes he wasn't involved, I would like to discuss some investment property with you. Guy is already a proven liar.

[SFP]

This post should be moved to OT. No matter what Manti's is better off then Lance Armstrong right now!

[Braves4Life]

This post should be moved to OT. No matter what Manti's is better off then Lance Armstrong right now!

I'm not sure I agree SFP. I'm guessing this could potentially cost him millions of dollars and draft position. Lance was already yesterday's news.

[Da Coach]

This keeps getting more interesting, kind of like one of those CSI or Bones dramas-
Now Arizona Cardinals running back Reagan Mauia claims to have met the presumed "dead" fake girlfriend. He says she was real!

http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2013/01/16/lennay-kekua-manti-teos-fake-dead-girlfriend-was-real-says-arizona-cardinals-fullback-reagan-mauia-who-claims-to-have-met-her/

[BuB]

Has anyone seen the film Catfish? I wonder if this went down exactly like that movie... which would mean that Mantei NEVER met this "girl" in real life.....


or he HAS to be in on it and its all f'ed up...

I think that is the case here. I don't think he has EVER met this person. Its a pretty believable story. I mean Jennifer Aniston is my girlfriend and I would be devastated too if any thing happened to her.

I'm not sure I agree SFP. I'm guessing this could potentially cost him millions of dollars and draft position. Lance was already yesterday's news.

Already lost millions. After that lousy performance vs Alabama I am pretty sure he got exposed. I never was a huge fan of his size and skills. Heart, desire, and leadership yes.....1st round talent no.

[PTownHawkeye]

If you had told me at the beginning of the day that the biggest "coming clean" story of the day in sports would involve someone not named Lance...

This entire thing is beyond reality. Yet wildly entertaining.

[Bravesfan]

What a mess! Someone better fess up to this quickly if Manti is not in on this, or he will be out of a job real fast!

[BUBalum05]

Wait, but was Grandma real, and she's really dead?
And was Bruce Willis alive or dead in the Sixth Sense?
I'm so confused!

Seriously though, Lance Armstrong has to just be laughing he's off the hook now. Couldn't have timed this one better...unless he perpetrated this too? You can't spell Lennay Kekua with out Lance Armstrongykku. CONSPIRACY!

[tornado]

wow - this story has taken on a life of its own....everyone's got an opinion...

but seriously - we have gobs of other great stories - scandals, coaching changes, even murders at high school games - not to mention all the great games being played...
..and all this really is - a guy who told a few fibs about a girlfriend??

I agree with Da Coach - what this is really all about is the horrific embarrassment this shines on the standard sports media - the ESPN types, etc...

Not only were they duped and look like fools because they repeatedly went way off on a tangent reporting this story that was never true...

..but they also fell for it hook, line, & sinker and helped Manti embellish it nationally - and were so much a part of all of it that they failed to see the signs that it was false -
then they were embarrassed a 2nd time by Deadspin finding the hoax and not any of them....