Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend......Never Existed?

[LoudClearVoice]

This is a bizarre story to say the least. It's hard for me to believe that Te'o wasn't somewhat involved in or at least knew about this hoax. Whether or not he created the whole story, I don't know.

Why would this kid do this though? It's not like it's some college football player that sucked and wanted to get his name out there. If anything, this hurts him and his draft status. He was a Heisman finalist, he already had the hype. That's what makes me think maybe he's not as involved in it as we think. Maybe he knew about it and it spiraled out of control. But then, why not put a stop to it when he could?

Finally, as many are asking, why didn't the national media outlets dig into this story? The story of Manti Te'o and his dead girlfriend has ESPN written all over it, and yet they didn't touch it. They didn't send anyone out to talk to the girlfriend's family and do a story. Weird.

This whole thing is just so bizarre. Strangest sports story I've heard in long time.

 

[Slyfox696]

Stop right there.

Allegedly, if we're to believe the Deadspin story to be accurate, then we should believe that this twitter account, and really this whole hoax, was started by a guy named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. So if we're to believe this hoax was completely concocted by Tuiasosopo, a man who was allegedly close to Te'o, where did this voice comes from, that spoke to Te'o on the phone for hours, often "eight hours" on the phone by his calculation? I suppose they could have brought in a voice, maybe a voice modifier, but that seems to be going a long way out for this.

Or there could have been a female in on it. Is it really that hard to believe?

It's a little more disconcerting to think that Te'o's father was of the belief that the two had met in person. Now granted, Te'o could have very well lied to his father, trying to keep up an image, perhaps concerned his father won't get the concept of an online relationship. But again, I see a little inconsistency in the matter.

Or it could simply have been a case where Te'o was embarrassed by the idea of having a girlfriend he's never met.

Which brings me to an issue I just considered while listening to ND's press conference. Te'o, allegedly, learned of the hoax on December 26th. Now, granted, there was a BCS Title game that I can totally understand not speaking about the situation during that period. That said, there's been about a week and a half of time after the BCS Title game, where I don't get why there isn't a press release. For that matter, the press release doesn't come out until after the Deadspin article comes out... Why?

...because he was embarrassed as hell to be the victim of this joke?

Are you really asking why a person would cover up something this embarrassing? If you believe the Notre Dame athletic director, he's been investigating this for weeks already, right after Te'o told his coaches he received the phone call. In fact, who isn't to say that Deadspin only thought to investigate this matter after receiving a tip from the ND athletic offices?

Again, granted, maybe he's embarrassed, and I get that. But if the investigation was launched December 26th, why did it take so long for us to hear anything?

Maybe he's embarrassed? If Te'o's version is true (and I'm not saying it is, I'm just giving the other side), I imagine he's incredibly embarrassed.

And why didn't you hear about it? Because it's none of your business. This was a case (again, taking Te'o's side) where a good young man was the victim of a disgusting prank, is it really fair to him to humiliate him further by telling the entire world?

Also, that September timeline is confusing, when analyzed. Here's the Deadspin article.

Now, here's the issues;

A. Not only has Manti spoken to this person, so had his father

B. There is a really confusing timeline to the death of Lennay.

C. If we go further into this, it actually gets a little confusing into how she dies.

A. If you think he could lie and make up a girlfriend, do you not think he could lie about meeting her?

B & C. There are a LOT of really confusing things about this.

I don't want to believe there was any malicious intent to any of this. But even with the guy giving a press release that does some have issues... I don't know, it seems to be the way that this story is leading.

Well, here's basically what I know. Those close to the program are pretty strongly saying Te'o's teammates do not believe he would do this and that his character is nearly impeccable. Several of his teammates have said they've heard a woman's voice on the other end of the phone. And this has been going on for a very long time.

So the question that has to be answered is "why"? Why would Te'o go through all of this hassle, talking on the phone for hours on end, go through the years of presenting himself as a truly good guy and then tell the ND coaches and athletic director he received the call from the voice he thought was dead, knowing the university would investigate? What's his end game?

Swarbrick said he's been investigating this for weeks. We have no reason to not believe him. The Deadspin article came out yesterday. If Swarbrick has been investigating for weeks, the only way he could have found out is if Te'o had told him. So why would Te'o do all of this, only to tell on himself later? And to tell on himself to the AD to the point where the AD holds a press conference steadfastly stating his belief Te'o was the victim of a prank, to the point of getting tears in his eyes?

I understand completely why people can believe Te'o was in on it. And I'm not saying he's not, I'm saying there are a lot of questions which need to be answered before ANYONE should make a decision on what happened here.

I'm not saying that Te'o is outright involved, or that we shold blame him just yet. But to say the story is fishy is an understatement.

Uhh, well you kind of did.

And again, let's just say that Te'o was in an online relationship; allegedly, this person arranged to meet Te'o in Hawaii, and always backed away last minute. Shouldn't that lead to some caution for Manti?

So bad judgment is a rarity in love?

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Which brings me to an issue I just considered while listening to ND's press conference. Te'o, allegedly, learned of the hoax on December 26th. Now, granted, there was a BCS Title game that I can totally understand not speaking about the situation during that period. That said, there's been about a week and a half of time after the BCS Title game, where I don't get why there isn't a press release. For that matter, the press release doesn't come out until after the Deadspin article comes out... Why? Especially given how quickly we did hear about the loss of Te'o's girlfriend, it seems a little strange we don't get some sort of word on what's going on until after the article comes out.

Again, granted, maybe he's embarrassed, and I get that. But if the investigation was launched December 26th, why did it take so long for us to hear anything?

Also, that September timeline is confusing, when analyzed. Here's the Deadspin article.

This is the most interesting part of it, to me. How did the major news outlets not get ahold of this story when the investigation was first launched? People are going to point to the Sandusky thing where it took years for the media to catch on but actually in that case, the local media in PA knew of the allegations but mostly kept it quiet. It just seems crazy to me that some reporter somewhere or media outlet didn't have a source within Notre Dame and get this story. The media is a cut-throat business and someone would have paid big money for that story, especially PRIOR to the title game as it would have been a bigger story than the game itself.

I mean, Lebron James takes a piss and ESPN has a breaking news story, how did they not pick up on this? It's just really, really strange.

 

[The Butcher]

Now, with that said, if Te'o did make it up for publicity, then it was a little lie that simply went too far. Is it really that big of a deal? To me it's not, but whatever.

Completely disagree. If he was a party in this, then he deliberately deceived the whole nation, playing off of our sympathies. It really is a sick thing to do, more so when it's taken to the national level.

This very well could have cost him millions of dollars, but Ray Lewis is a prime example that you can bounce back from ANYTHING in people's eyes as long as your great on that football field.

JMT does make a good point about Lewis and how people will forgive a lot of things if you are good on the field. It is better this happened before his pro career rather than after. Look at Lewis and Ben Roethlisberger. One was accused of stabbing a man, the other has been accused of sexual crimes more than once, but they go out and play well and people forget it. On the other hand look at Lawrence Taylor, he was arguably the greatest linebacker of all time, but there are people who want him out of the HoF because of his alleged rape of an underage girl. He doesn't have a chance to go out play anymore and he is slammed much harder for his allegations. Yeah the fact that the girl in question was underage does play into it, I fully believe if it happened while he was playing he would have a chance to make people forgive or forget it.

Oh he'll be forgiven, without a doubt, because America loves a redemption story. Our culture regularly breaks down celebrities and athletes so we can build them back up. However, in Monti's case it won't be fast because the deception was too widespread and too emotion driven for the court of public opinion to let him off easy. Everybody knows somebody who died of cancer, and it's nothing to joke around and lie to people about. If he played a part (and that's still a big if) he's gonna have to come completely clean and be as contrite as humanly possible.

I mean, Lebron James takes a piss and ESPN has a breaking news story, how did they not pick up on this? It's just really, really strange.

ESPN's breaking news is so often acquired from the journalists of other news outlets it's pathetic. What makes it worse is they often don't even give the reporter who got the scoop credit. It's actually gotten a lot of attention in certain circles. The Awful Announcing blog calls them out every time they do it.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

If I could throw a half-baked theory for motive out there I am going to go with gay.

Between his youth, immaturity, lineage, religious beliefs, public image, and status as a football stud, while completely speculative I don't think it is unreasonable for him to be motivated by an attempt to stay in the closet.

I know Notre Dame girls are not exactly appealling, but having a long distance online girlfirend is something I would expect from one of us on this forum, not a star athlete. Maybe his friend was helping him cover all this up. Maybe his friend is more than a friend. Maybe it was time to end the relationship and he screwed up and decided she needed to die.

I don't know, I didn't read the article and was only somewhat familiar with the story beforehand. The point is I don't buy that he was simply embarassed or that he wanted publicity. Seems like he got caught up in something that blew up beyond what was expected.

He might be in to dudes.

 

[Slyfox696]

If I could throw a half-baked theory for motive out there I am going to go with gay.

This would be the only logical reason I could think of as well.

I know Notre Dame girls are not exactly appealling

I've been to the campus twice, and I've seen nothing but beautiful women everywhere. And the fact you know they are beautiful women who are smart and have money is nothing but bonus.

but having a long distance online girlfirend is something I would expect from one of us on this forum, not a star athlete. Maybe his friend was helping him cover all this up. Maybe his friend is more than a friend. Maybe it was time to end the relationship and he screwed up and decided she needed to die.

That's the other thing which doesn't make sense. If you were going to end the relationship, why not just a break up? It makes FAR more sense for him to be a victim of a hoax when the girl dies than for him to be in on it when the girl died.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

This would be the only logical reason I could think of as well.

I've been to the campus twice, and I've seen nothing but beautiful women everywhere. And the fact you know they are beautiful women who are smart and have money is nothing but bonus.

That's the other thing which doesn't make sense. If you were going to end the relationship, why not just a break up? It makes FAR more sense for him to be a victim of a hoax when the girl dies than for him to be in on it when the girl died.

There are a lot of Notre Dame graduates in Chicago. They tend to be really good, nice, fun, smart people. But their allegiance to Notre Dame football drives me bat shit crazy so I tend to make fun of them any chance I get and constantly root against them purely out of jealousy.

It's not healthy.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

If I could throw a half-baked theory for motive out there I am going to go with gay.

Between his youth, immaturity, lineage, religious beliefs, public image, and status as a football stud, while completely speculative I don't think it is unreasonable for him to be motivated by an attempt to stay in the closet.

I know Notre Dame girls are not exactly appealling, but having a long distance online girlfirend is something I would expect from one of us on this forum, not a star athlete. Maybe his friend was helping him cover all this up. Maybe his friend is more than a friend. Maybe it was time to end the relationship and he screwed up and decided she needed to die.

I don't know, I didn't read the article and was only somewhat familiar with the story beforehand. The point is I don't buy that he was simply embarassed or that he wanted publicity. Seems like he got caught up in something that blew up beyond what was expected.

He might be in to dudes.

I guess anything is possible but if no one knows you're gay, why concoct a big lie, which risks you being exposed as gay. It's not like people at Notre Dame (I don't think) were saying "oh, Te'o is for sure a flamer" and so he got nervous and had to cover it up?

I was listening to some sports talk radio on the way home from work yesterday when the story broke, and a few people were actually calling in with your theory. I guess it's possible but IMO, it's not the case here.

 

[Slyfox696]

I guess anything is possible but if no one knows you're gay, why concoct a big lie, which risks you being exposed as gay. It's not like people at Notre Dame (I don't think) were saying "oh, Te'o is for sure a flamer" and so he got nervous and had to cover it up?

I was listening to some sports talk radio on the way home from work yesterday when the story broke, and a few people were actually calling in with your theory. I guess it's possible but IMO, it's not the case here.

Gay men have gone to the lengths of getting married and having children to keep the fact they are gay from being known.

I'm not saying Te'o is gay (and certainly am not saying he did this), I'm saying it's not inconceivable for someone to try and cover their sexuality.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

You know, the more and more I read the details of this alleged hoax, the more I'm buying into the gay theory.

By all accounts, Manti Te'o is a very religious man. If it were revealed that he's gay, he'd be shunned not only in the religious community but in the sports world as well. So, maybe when Notre Dame got off to a good start and he started to get into the spotlight, he thought the gay thing might come out so he concocted this hoax with the Tuiassipo guy, who could very well be his boyfriend, if the gay theory is true....

 

[Slyfox696]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...i-te-os-fake-girlfriend-051106606--ncaaf.html

And it just keeps getting weirder. Apparently a fullback from the Arizona Cardinals has said he actually met the girl who is supposedly dead and/or not real.

He said he met Kekua in person when he went to do charity work in American Samoa with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Troy Polamalu and several other Polynesians back in June 2011.

"This was before her and Manti," Mauia said Wednesday evening. "I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was... I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

So strange...

 

[LoudClearVoice]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...i-te-os-fake-girlfriend-051106606--ncaaf.html

And it just keeps getting weirder. Apparently a fullback from the Arizona Cardinals has said he actually met the girl who is supposedly dead and/or not real.


So strange...

Wow, this is insane.

Where is the "girl's" family in all of this? How come they haven't surfaced? If she's real, you'd think SOMEONE would come forward with a statement, wouldn't you? I've never seen anything like this.


When is the movie coming out? haha

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I guess anything is possible but if no one knows you're gay, why concoct a big lie, which risks you being exposed as gay. It's not like people at Notre Dame (I don't think) were saying "oh, Te'o is for sure a flamer" and so he got nervous and had to cover it up?

I was listening to some sports talk radio on the way home from work yesterday when the story broke, and a few people were actually calling in with your theory. I guess it's possible but IMO, it's not the case here.

Just a way to explain why no one sees him with a girlfriend. It ended up going too far. I have no clue though really. I've banged a lot of guys in South Bend-Over truck stops and he was never one of them. Can't speak for who was behind the glory holes.

 

[The Butcher]

When is the movie coming out? haha

I can picture it now. Catfish 2: The Hoaxed-Backer of Notre Dame. This whole story is so convoluted and nonsensical. If this story been told prior to it actually happening, it wouldn't be all that believable.

The gay theory is a good one, granted, but this whole narrative is so odd that that almost sounds too sensible.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Coverage research has revealed that he and ND "discovered" his girl wasn't a real person on dec the 6th...and yet, discussed her in both a web interview and a newspaper interview after that (dec 8th and 11, respectively)

Id say its pretty obvious from that he and the school were entirely complicit. If you know, the whole "online relationship for three years without meeting or even skyping" story, and the fact he canceled an interview about it, isn't obvious enough for everyone.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Te'o is Mormon, so I wouldn't be overly shocked if it was a cover up for him in fact being gay. Being ousted as a homosexual is grounds for excommunication in the Mormon church I believe.

And I know that ND isn't as strict as say BYU, but they are still a religious institution, and I remember a couple years back the fact that a player on the team was Muslim made news here in Indiana, so I have no doubt a similar reaction would be had for a gay player, especially one with the star of Te'o.

 

[Megatron]

For what it's worth, an (unnamed) former teammate said Te'o was somewhat of an attention ****e. A story like this certainly wouldn't be out of the ordinary if this teammate is telling the truth.

http://espn.go.com/college-football...manti-teo-says-player-played-girlfriend-angle

 

[Con T.]

Just got done watching through the press conference by Swarbick... Frankly, I'm kind of disgusted, not by his words, but by something else.

We all have an understanding of the basics of the story; probably not enough to come to a reasonable conclusion of what actually happened, but enough to follow the story. Currently, Notre Dame is out to prove that this was a malicious prank played on a hero for the school, and that Manti Te'o is a victim in this cruel hoax.

All of which I'm willing to believe could be true. What I don't understand is why their willingness to deem one of their own as a victim, and completely ignore another victim, for the sake of their own protection.

Allow me to introduce you to Lizzy Seeberg;

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/reported-sexual-assault-notre-dame-campus-leaves-more-questions-answers

For those of you that saw this and thought, "lulz, tl;dr", allow me to explain the situation. Lizzy Seeberg was a freshman student at Notre Dame, who was sexually assaulted (allegedly) by two members of the Notre Dame football team on August 31st. She was left alone with members of the team, in which the following happened;

"He started sucking my neck and I started crying harder," Lizzy wrote. "He pulled down my tank top by the straps. He slipped them down my shoulders and proceeded to suck and lick my right breast while holding me down on his lap by the arms. I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn't move."

She tried to play it off as though nothing had happened, but eventually during a freshman orientation on sexual assault, Lizzy had a panic attack. She would go on to see a school therapist, which eventually she would write down and state what happened to her on the night of her assault. Even after filing a report, it would take the authorities fifteen days to conduct an investigation.

Not that it did much help for Lizzy; she would commit suicide on September 10th. But not before she would receive these text messages from the same people that left her alone with the unidentified player;

"Don't do anything you would regret," he wrote. "Messing with Notre Dame football is a bad idea."

The message was clear; The Notre Dame football program was more important than the livelihood of a student.

Melinda Henneberger writes the following in a Washington Post article;

On Sept. 7, she wrote her therapist, ‘I can’t get out of this f*!#ing hole I’ve started to dig. I’m trying to go to sleep because I’m sick with a cold and need to get rest but I can’t stop thinking about taking all the pills I can find. I’m ready to check out because this sucks.’ She promised [her therapist] she would never follow through.

My problem here is Notre Dame's demand, outright indignation, that Manti Te'o is a victim, all the while ignoring victimhood at their own school.

That isn't to say Manti Te'o isn't a victim; he may just be. But to ignore victim that was on campus, to ignore a massive issue that is prevalent in all major universities, when you are so quick to rush to defend one of your own, is just a little sickening to me.

 

[Slyfox696]

Coverage research has revealed that he and ND "discovered" his girl wasn't a real person on dec the 6th...and yet, discussed her in both a web interview and a newspaper interview after that (dec 8th and 11, respectively)

Id say its pretty obvious from that he and the school were entirely complicit.

Not at all. Him talking about her at that point would simply be a matter of trying to avoid embarrassment, not to mention trying to keep the investigation quiet in order to get to the truth as quickly as possible.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Or, you know, that he was, is, and had been lying the whole time. Which is roughly eight million times more plausible.

People at least can never call you anything less than loyal, sly.

 

[Slyfox696]

Or, you know, that he was, is, and had been lying the whole time. Which is roughly eight million times more plausible.

People at least can never call you anything less than loyal, sly.

Not at all, I'm not saying he didn't participate. I'm just saying this story is so strange, we need more information.

As I said earlier, why would he make this up? People keep saying "publicity", but for what? He came into the season as one of the most highly regarded linebackers in the country. He plays exclusively defense, which has never won a Heisman. Notre Dame was only 2-0 when the death was reported. His teammates have said they've heard a female's voice on the other end of his phone calls. He's the one who reported to the coaches, which makes no sense if he was trying to pull one over on people.

Why would he make this up and then tell on himself later, when there is reasonably nothing to gain and everything to lose?

Again, I'm not saying he wasn't part of it, because you never know what people are capable of. But Te'o is a man of previously impeccable character, who would have had to lie and scheme about this for years, putting on a false facade of being a good and genuine person before creating this fictitious girlfriend all for the sake of publicity he didn't need and he could not reasonably have predicted would have benefited him.

I'm sorry, the idea that he was in on it is MUCH less plausible than he being the one planning it, especially after the endorsement Swarbrick gave him last night, when he never needed to, after having an independent investigation team look into it.

Once more, I wish to reiterate I don't know what happened. But if I have to choose between the two alternatives, the idea of him doing is much less plausible than the idea of him being the victim.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

When I started reading this, I wondered where it was going to go as far as what possibilities are out there. The more that I think about it, it has to be that he's gay. He's soft spoken, very emotional, and someone who gives off a vibe of being 'different'.

I think this was a hoax he perpetrated with others to cover up his homosexuality. He just went too far with it. Killing her off is simply too far and it may have uncovered a hot mess here.

Thing is, a fullback from the Arizona Cardinals says he's MET this person. Maybe the person exists, but not in the sense that Te'o wanted her to exist. I don't know... it's just a weird story. Maybe the weirdest sports story I've ever heard, and I've covered and watched a LOT of sports in my time.

Another thing that's not mentioned is that no one in the journalism community did their diligence to find out more about the girlfriend and Te'o's character. When you're a journalist and you're covering a polarizing figure like Te'o, you have to have character references that back up what our perception is of him. Ask a former classmate or teammate from high school. Maybe his parents or neighbors. And when I've done something to that effect, I cover ALL bases, such as girlfriends. Once you find out a name, you research. You find out if she has a profile on Facebook, Twitter, and even attempt to talk to them over the phone or in person. It's what you do when you have a kid who's a national story due to his character. And no one in the realm of journalism could uncover this. Not one person could talk to someone and find out they've never been seen together in person or that she doesn't go to Stanford? It took so long for this to be uncovered. And of course, it's when Te'o's no longer enrolled in the school and is no longer their problem. Te'o now has an agency he goes through to be contacted. Lots of convenience here if you ask me and it makes me think about my fandom toward Notre Dame football.

It's a mess and the best case scenario is being labeled as a weirdo. That's not good for someone who wants to make a career hitting people in the National Football League. This could also explain the lopsided loss to Alabama. Notre Dame didn't look like it was even in the game at all, and they didn't look like that at ANY point during the regular season. This might be due to the huge distraction this caused leading up to the BCS National Title game.

I'm curious to see where this leads to. It has to have a conclusion.

 

[jmt225]

As I said earlier, why would he make this up? People keep saying "publicity", but for what? He came into the season as one of the most highly regarded linebackers in the country. He plays exclusively defense, which has never won a Heisman. Notre Dame was only 2-0 when the death was reported. His teammates have said they've heard a female's voice on the other end of his phone calls. He's the one who reported to the coaches, which makes no sense if he was trying to pull one over on people.

Not to mention his grandmother died around the same time, right? Why would he, right after his grandmother's death, start plotting away to make himself more sympathetic by adding a fictitious dead girlfriend into the mix? It just doesn't make sense.

And those saying he's a star athlete and shouldn't have trouble meeting girls in real life... we don't know the guy. Maybe he's super shy. Or maybe this hot chick starting flirting with him online and he liked her more than the other girls he met on campus. Who knows? Either way, if that is the case, then he really got fucked over. If it's not, then he just needs to come clean and get it over with.

I also like how the media is focusing so much on Te'o while not acknowledging how pathetic they are that no one cared to look this up when it first happened. I mean, for months and months THEY talked about this, not Te'o. Why didn't anyone check the facts? Why didn't anyone bother to interview this girl's parents and get their thoughts on Te'o? It's because the media is a fucking JOKE and lazier than ever. It took a website whose biggest story before this was getting Brett Favre penis pictures to get the scope on this. Absolutely pathetic.

 

[Slyfox696]

Not to mention his grandmother died around the same time, right? Why would he, right after his grandmother's death, start plotting away to make himself more sympathetic by adding a fictitious dead girlfriend into the mix? It just doesn't make sense.

It doesn't. But if you change the narrative to him being the victim, suddenly it makes a LOT more sense.

And those saying he's a star athlete and shouldn't have trouble meeting girls in real life... we don't know the guy. Maybe he's super shy.

Or maybe he's super religious and at a Catholic university, he didn't find someone who met his criteria.

Just speculation here though.

I also like how the media is focusing so much on Te'o while not acknowledging how pathetic they are that no one cared to look this up when it first happened. I mean, for months and months THEY talked about this, not Te'o. Why didn't anyone check the facts? Why didn't anyone bother to interview this girl's parents and get their thoughts on Te'o? It's because the media is a fucking JOKE and lazier than ever. It took a website whose biggest story before this was getting Brett Favre penis pictures to get the scope on this. Absolutely pathetic.

Here's the thing. I bet Deadspin got a tip from a source at the university. You're right, no one investigated it, so why did Deadspin all of a sudden decide to months after the fact?

No one seems to dispute that Te'o told his coaches and AD about the situation. This happened the day after the ESPN awards, so he informed his coaches on December 7th (I think). And only a few weeks after Notre Dame launched an investigation, Deadspin has the article.

My guess is Deadspin received a tip from inside the ND offices. Which is another reason that I'm leaning more towards this being a case of Te'o being a victim than a perpetrator.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I'm with everyone that says Te'o should come clean. He must come clean, because when journalists are made a fool when it comes to being duped about someone's character, then it's lock, stock and barrel when it comes to dirt digging. And TMZ's on top of this, as well. If Teo's hiding something, he best come clean about it before one of these news services comes out with indisputable evidence saying he's done something he shouldn't have or that he's gay.

Imagine if you're Te'o and you're gay... and TMZ finds a guy who claims he had a sexual relationship with Te'o for ages and helped make up this fictional girlfriend and kill her to give him a more sympathetic look. His teammates seem to know he's narcissistic already, and this probably will not end well for Te'o.