Guys, he lied.

You don't claim on official record this week that the relationship was 'online [only]', and contradict yourself months ago by saying that you've met in person on multiple occasions. He claimed to have met this woman in person, then goes on to say, essentially, that he didn't.

One thing is certain: he is a liar.

Another thing is also certain: his credibility is gone because this woman does not exist.

The bigger question in all of this is why would Notre Dame willfully commit public relations suicide, and defend Manti Te'o's statement when it clearly contradicts earlier testimony about the relationship? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS A LIE to begin with.

(01-16-2013 11:28 PM)smudge12 Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 06:51 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 05:46 PM)smudge12 Wrote:  I think he was legitimately hoaxed by someone (it happens all the time). He should have admitted it, but a mix of pride and shame that he was tricked got in the way. In addition, virtual relationships are still stigmas so I can see a star athlete struggling to admit to one (normal people have trouble admitting it).

He gave interviews and cried. She didn't exist. This guy could be as bad of a nut job as Vince Young....or worse

...or maybe he is a future Seau product

....pretty strange this one

He probably lied because he was too embarrassed to admit to a) having an internet girlfriend and b) being tricked about said girlfriend. I think it's one of those situations where he didn't want to be embarrassed, let what was a white lie spiral out of control with more lies, hoped no one would ever dig into it, and now the embarrassment he didn't want is 100x worse. Famous people have certainly done worse.

Plus I really think he thought his girlfriend was about to die 'cause that's what the hoaxer made it seem, but then he found out she wasn't real and was too embarrassed to tell anyone. He was also too embarrassed to tell people he had never actually spoken to her 'cause people make fun of virtual relationships.

Either that or he's completely off his rocker...

...the last statement

...and the guy also may be Ali punch drunk by the time he is 25...this is too strange...even for my convoluted brain

(01-16-2013 11:32 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 11:19 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 11:13 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 08:24 PM)MU ATO Wrote:  The best part is he is trying to play the victim of the hoax and not the perpetrator of it. Like an episode of Catfish!

It is not out of the realm of possibility that he was the victim and he was lying because he was embarrassed about having an internet girlfriend as a 22 year old Heisman candidate. Christ, I'd lie about it too.

That said, do I think that is the case? No. I'm just going to suspend judgment until a little more info comes out.

If this was a scam, I almost admire the dedication. This whole thing went on for years.

Why?

So now we get to see bicycle Armstrong and Manti cry in the same week....(guessing on the latter)

Sorry, but you either do it or you don't...if you do the wrong thing, then own up to it...running only compounds the problem...he either fkd up or he didn't

Once you lie about it, you will never regain the respect of public opinion...because they do the same damn thing

Because I'd be the laughing stock of the entire nation for being a football player with an online girlfriend that I've never met.

Maybe if I was 10, I'd fess up to it.

Really...I am a Heisman candidate and I have to have an internet GF...okey dokey...how do you even go to that world at that level?

Hell, maybe he is gay...that would at least make some sense out of this....and I am okay with that

But if it was to only promote a hoax or give added media exposure....he gets Salem witch trial treatment going forward...from EVERYONE

(01-17-2013 12:19 AM)TampaKnight Wrote:  Guys, he lied.

You don't claim on official record this week that the relationship was 'online [only]', and contradict yourself months ago by saying that you've met in person on multiple occasions. He claimed to have met this woman in person, then goes on to say, essentially, that he didn't.

One thing is certain: he is a liar.

Another thing is also certain: his credibility is gone because this woman does not exist.

The bigger question in all of this is why would Notre Dame willfully commit public relations suicide, and defend Manti Te'o's statement when it clearly contradicts earlier testimony about the relationship? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS A LIE to begin with.

Thank you for bringing some sanity back to this story. Way too many "maybes" and "benefits of the doubt" in this thread. This was a major hoax perpetrated for and by Te'O and Notre Dame to win support for the awards circuit. The fact that nobody in the media - SI, CNN, NBC, CBS, ESPN, or even the Notre Dame publicity folks EVER made any attempt to verify this story speaks volumes. This was a lead story in SI in SEPTEMBER. Even reading it back then, it sounded so unbelievably tragic I found it hard to believe. But I reasoned that surely the SI writers had tracked down an obituary, death certificate, or talked to her family? And then the story was repeated ad nauseam all throughout the season.

The Deadspin article lays out the lies and deception pretty darn well. Its a little too late for the victim card. Its time for a come to Joseph Smith meeting.

(01-17-2013 12:19 AM)TampaKnight Wrote:  Guys, he lied.

You don't claim on official record this week that the relationship was 'online [only]', and contradict yourself months ago by saying that you've met in person on multiple occasions. He claimed to have met this woman in person, then goes on to say, essentially, that he didn't.

One thing is certain: he is a liar.

Another thing is also certain: his credibility is gone because this woman does not exist.

The bigger question in all of this is why would Notre Dame willfully commit public relations suicide, and defend Manti Te'o's statement when it clearly contradicts earlier testimony about the relationship? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS A LIE to begin with.

...the cover-up is a catholic tradition...don't you know that by now? ...and I was reared catheter....get the pun? ...not literally mind you ...but I was reared Catholicshovethebsupmyarsebecausewehavedoneittoselfinsulate...sorry for the misspell....self serving

(01-17-2013 12:49 AM)Kandy Atz Wrote:  

(01-17-2013 12:19 AM)TampaKnight Wrote:  Guys, he lied.

You don't claim on official record this week that the relationship was 'online [only]', and contradict yourself months ago by saying that you've met in person on multiple occasions. He claimed to have met this woman in person, then goes on to say, essentially, that he didn't.

One thing is certain: he is a liar.

Another thing is also certain: his credibility is gone because this woman does not exist.

The bigger question in all of this is why would Notre Dame willfully commit public relations suicide, and defend Manti Te'o's statement when it clearly contradicts earlier testimony about the relationship? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS A LIE to begin with.

Thank you for bringing some sanity back to this story. Way too many "maybes" and "benefits of the doubt" in this thread. This was a major hoax perpetrated for and by Te'O and Notre Dame to win support for the awards circuit. The fact that nobody in the media - SI, CNN, NBC, CBS, ESPN, or even the Notre Dame publicity folks EVER made any attempt to verify this story speaks volumes. This was a lead story in SI in SEPTEMBER. Even reading it back then, it sounded so unbelievably tragic I found it hard to believe. But I reasoned that surely the SI writers had tracked down an obituary, death certificate, or talked to her family? And then the story was repeated ad nauseam all throughout the season.

The Deadspin article lays out the lies and deception pretty darn well. Its a little too late for the victim card. Its time for a come to Joseph Smith meeting.

The Deadspin articles lay out that there was deception from someone....but they don't lay out how much Te'o was the one doing the deceiving vs. the one being deceived.

All there is is a quote from a family friend saying he's 80 percent sure Te'o was in on it. From reading the article, I'm about 80 percent sure Te'o was in on it too. That 20 percent warrants not railroading him yet.

I think it will come out that he was in on it. But I'm waiting for the follow-up article before I'm ready to crucify the kid because there's not enough there to prove his claim wrong yet.

As far as the "gay" thing goes, I thought that too but why would they "kill" her off if it was just because the two were gay together?

(01-17-2013 02:53 AM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(01-17-2013 12:49 AM)Kandy Atz Wrote:  

(01-17-2013 12:19 AM)TampaKnight Wrote:  Guys, he lied.

You don't claim on official record this week that the relationship was 'online [only]', and contradict yourself months ago by saying that you've met in person on multiple occasions. He claimed to have met this woman in person, then goes on to say, essentially, that he didn't.

One thing is certain: he is a liar.

Another thing is also certain: his credibility is gone because this woman does not exist.

The bigger question in all of this is why would Notre Dame willfully commit public relations suicide, and defend Manti Te'o's statement when it clearly contradicts earlier testimony about the relationship? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS A LIE to begin with.

Thank you for bringing some sanity back to this story. Way too many "maybes" and "benefits of the doubt" in this thread. This was a major hoax perpetrated for and by Te'O and Notre Dame to win support for the awards circuit. The fact that nobody in the media - SI, CNN, NBC, CBS, ESPN, or even the Notre Dame publicity folks EVER made any attempt to verify this story speaks volumes. This was a lead story in SI in SEPTEMBER. Even reading it back then, it sounded so unbelievably tragic I found it hard to believe. But I reasoned that surely the SI writers had tracked down an obituary, death certificate, or talked to her family? And then the story was repeated ad nauseam all throughout the season.

The Deadspin article lays out the lies and deception pretty darn well. Its a little too late for the victim card. Its time for a come to Joseph Smith meeting.

The Deadspin articles lay out that there was deception from someone....but they don't lay out how much Te'o was the one doing the deceiving vs. the one being deceived.

All there is is a quote from a family friend saying he's 80 percent sure Te'o was in on it. From reading the article, I'm about 80 percent sure Te'o was in on it too. That 20 percent warrants not railroading him yet.

I think it will come out that he was in on it. But I'm waiting for the follow-up article before I'm ready to crucify the kid because there's not enough there to prove his claim wrong yet.

As far as the "gay" thing goes, I thought that too but why would they "kill" her off if it was just because the two were gay together?

any way it gets chopped...this one will end up as liver

sooner he comes clean, the better off he will be IMO

curious how he could have talked to "her" on the phone...someone would have gotten those records if they existed...or "met" her...or 'e', all the above that will come out...

has to be gay or vanity is his god...either way, what a moron play for self denial/promotion

ND holding a press conference is just flat out hilarious...already getting roasted by the early a.m. talk shows...hell, the guy even referenced Dr Phil like that has weight...was lmfao and had to shut it down after that

this makes it into Saturday Night Live before this is over

(01-17-2013 12:48 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  Hell, maybe he is gay...that would at least make some sense out of this....and I am okay with that

This is my guess. Cover girlfriend. Got hard to fake the long distance thing as people wanted to meet her. He could use this for years as the reason he isn't dating. Then he got caught.

(01-17-2013 05:17 AM)Luckyshot Wrote:  

(01-17-2013 12:48 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  Hell, maybe he is gay...that would at least make some sense out of this....and I am okay with that

This is my guess. Cover girlfriend. Got hard to fake the long distance thing as people wanted to meet her. He could use this for years as the reason he isn't dating. Then he got caught.

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to propose that he could be gay and used all of this as a cover up. If you think about that aspect of it, lots of his story goes from absurd and improbable to at least considerable. Given the Mormon church's attitude towards homosexuality, he could have approached ND and told them the truth but asked that they help him cover that up because of his beliefs. As another poster said, it's not exactly absurd for Catholic institutions to assist in cover ups.

The unfortunate piece of this theory is that he didn't use all of this as a chance to be one of very few (if any?) high-level sports stars to come out. If this is the case, he could really change the sports world by coming out.

Just a theory!

This is a weird, weird story.

I think Te'o was in on it...from the get go.

(01-16-2013 11:28 PM)smudge12 Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 06:51 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 05:46 PM)smudge12 Wrote:  I think he was legitimately hoaxed by someone (it happens all the time). He should have admitted it, but a mix of pride and shame that he was tricked got in the way. In addition, virtual relationships are still stigmas so I can see a star athlete struggling to admit to one (normal people have trouble admitting it).

He gave interviews and cried. She didn't exist. This guy could be as bad of a nut job as Vince Young....or worse

...or maybe he is a future Seau product

....pretty strange this one

He probably lied because he was too embarrassed to admit to a) having an internet girlfriend and b) being tricked about said girlfriend. I think it's one of those situations where he didn't want to be embarrassed, let what was a white lie spiral out of control with more lies, hoped no one would ever dig into it, and now the embarrassment he didn't want is 100x worse. Famous people have certainly done worse.

Amazing how Te'0 and his so-called gf were the only 2 students at STANFORD and NOTRE DAME to have never used Skype or iChat.

Yeah....that's believable.

NOT!

Alabama's QB can get his gf, who also went to another school, to show up at his games...but Te'o, even playing multiple games IN California, can not.

(01-17-2013 08:19 AM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  This is a weird, weird story.

And this was just the first installment. Stories like this always get weirder. Cannot imagine how that's even possible for this story, but it will get weirder.

(01-16-2013 07:13 PM)Luckyshot Wrote:  Thankfully, I never heard this story during the season ("Story about ND?" *change channel*), but Deadspin is awesome for pointing out all the "legitimate" news sources that ran with this story without ever investigating it at all. Just wish this had come out the week of the BCS Champ game so it would've been bigger news.

Latest report on the media were stating that Notre Dame officials and administration think that Te'o was duped by whomever the girl is?

This is getting weirder and weirder now..

Very weird story.

Wow april fools day came early this year. What a prick.

(01-17-2013 08:37 AM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 07:13 PM)Luckyshot Wrote:  Thankfully, I never heard this story during the season ("Story about ND?" *change channel*), but Deadspin is awesome for pointing out all the "legitimate" news sources that ran with this story without ever investigating it at all. Just wish this had come out the week of the BCS Champ game so it would've been bigger news.

Latest report on the media were stating that Notre Dame officials and administration think that Te'o was duped by whomever the girl is?

This is getting weirder and weirder now..

I think they're just protecting him and hoping that one NFL GM buys the story and drafts him anyways. NFL teams will dig deep into this though. I think it will all unravel before April.

(01-17-2013 08:32 AM)No Bull Wrote:  I think Te'o was in on it...from the get go.

Of course he was. Everyone in the country knows the story, it's been repeated a million times. All he had to say is "wtf, I don't know what you're talking about", but he played along with this charade for over a year.

And guess who where accomplices, yep the South Bend Tribune and Sports Illustrated. Shame on them for caring the water on this sham.

(01-17-2013 10:19 AM)BlazerFan11 Wrote:  

(01-17-2013 08:37 AM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  

(01-16-2013 07:13 PM)Luckyshot Wrote:  Thankfully, I never heard this story during the season ("Story about ND?" *change channel*), but Deadspin is awesome for pointing out all the "legitimate" news sources that ran with this story without ever investigating it at all. Just wish this had come out the week of the BCS Champ game so it would've been bigger news.

Latest report on the media were stating that Notre Dame officials and administration think that Te'o was duped by whomever the girl is?

This is getting weirder and weirder now..

I think they're just protecting him and hoping that one NFL GM buys the story and drafts him anyways. NFL teams will dig deep into this though. I think it will all unravel before April.

......will be the first knowingly homosexual to be drafted....pun intended for the military folk

(01-17-2013 10:22 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-17-2013 08:32 AM)No Bull Wrote:  I think Te'o was in on it...from the get go.

Of course he was. Everyone in the country knows the story, it's been repeated a million times. All he had to say is "wtf, I don't know what you're talking about", but he played along with this charade for over a year.

And guess who where accomplices, yep the South Bend Tribune and Sports Illustrated. Shame on them for caring the water on this sham.

....the dude is homosexual, mormon, and at THE premier catholic school...how this is shocking??? ...how there is a cover-up is beyond me <sarc>....falls in line with the history of catholicism dating back to the Crusades....but who really cares about stuff like that??? ....the ND press conference was a joke....still laughing at all of the responders