Email from AJ McCarron to Manti Teo

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Hi Manti,

Sorry about the beat down in the big game.

Hey, my girlfriend is Miss Alabama and better than that, she actually exists!

AJ

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Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 3,633 • Replies: 27

[+4] - IRFRANK - 01/17/2013Believing in someone that doesn't exist and then having them die. Isn't that what Notre Dame is about?
[+3] - wandeljw - 01/17/2013New "Fighting Irish" T-Shirt [img]http://www.thesportsbank.net/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/manti-teo-shirt-295x300.jpg[/img]

@IRFRANK,

I was looking for a thread on this story because it is so strange. Teo may have been duped online but he embellished the story because he was getting great press for it.

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@wandeljw,

I saw this young man tell his story..and by his facial expressions and eyes...I would swear that everything he said, he believes. This is partly why I never went into law enforcement or even HR at a corporation. I can be fooled.

But... I put on my thinking cap here...

I'm smelling a rat here. The more I hear about this, the more I doubt his part of this story being true (he was not duped and made it up). Why, when she was dieing/dying (sp?), etc., did he not ever get to see her and/or go to her funeral..or even Skype with her on a reg basis, etc. C'mon now!

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Yes, it's all hard to believe. He is a young man, and maybe he was duped. But, I understand he told ND he was suspicious and they investigated and found out it was a scam, but they didn't bother to tell anyone. This happened in December. As usual, it's the coverup. Makes one wonder how often this stuff happens and doesn't get exposed.

The bottom line for me is this: How could you fall that much in love with someone without ever actually meeting them?

That's the part that makes me think he made it up, or let it go on after he realized it wasn't real.

I can't wait for Hawkeye to show up. When will the NCAA sanctions begin?

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Teo may have actually been duped, but he made ridiculous claims about his relationship ("the love of my life"). He came in second place in the voting for the Heisman trophy. Was he deliberately misrepresenting an online relationship for personal gain? Was Notre Dame complicit in this?

Edit: I once claimed that spendius and I were lovers but I said that as a joke! Smile

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This excerpt from the Associated Press account of the hoax raises questions about Teo's involvement:

Quote:

Friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told Deadspin they believe he created Kekua. The website said Te'o and Tuiasosopo knew each other. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Tuiasosopo by telephone were unsuccessful.

As for Kekua, Deadspin said she does not have a death certificate. Stanford, where she reportedly went to school, has no record of anybody by that name, the website said. Deadspin said a record search produced no obituary or funeral announcement. There is no record of her birth in the news.

There are a few Twitter and Instagram accounts registered to Lennay Kekua, but the website reported that photographs identified as Kekua online and in TV news reports are pictures from the social-media accounts of a 22-year-old California woman who is not named Lennay Kekua.

Te'o talked freely about their relationship after her supposed death and how much she meant to him.

In a story that appeared in The South Bend Tribune on Oct. 12, Manti's father, Brian, recounted an anecdote about how his son and Kekua met after Notre Dame had played at Stanford in 2009. Brian Te'o also told the newspaper that Kekua had visited Hawaii and met with his son. Brian Te'o told the AP in an interview in October that he and his wife had never met Manti's girlfriend but they had hoped to at the Wake Forest game in November. The father said he believed the relationship was just beginning to get serious when she died.

The Tribune released a statement saying: "At the Tribune, we are as stunned by these revelations as everyone else. Indeed, this season we reported the story of this fake girlfriend and her death as details were given to us by Te'o, members of his family and his coaches at Notre Dame."

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@wandeljw,

Yes. I've read a bit about this and I'd say Teo's involvement is very suspect. Either he was incredibly naive or he helped make the whole thing up. Too many holes in his story. ND let the whole thing pass also, hoping, I'm sure, that it would not come to light. The whole thing is kind of silly really. Maybe the worst part is how the media got sucked in and bought the story without any verification at all. If he helped make this all up to get attention then it's pretty damn devious, and stupid.

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@wandeljw,

Quote:

Was he deliberately misrepresenting an online relationship for personal gain? Was Notre Dame complicit in this?

Question 1 - It certainly looks that way. Proof is another matter.
Question 2 - Maybe, but this is pretty personal so I'm not sure what choice they had.

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New "Fighting Irish" T-Shirt

http://www.thesportsbank.net/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/manti-teo-shirt-295x300.jpg

1 Reply

@wandeljw,

Believing in someone that doesn't exist and then having them die.

Isn't that what Notre Dame is about?

1 Reply

@IRFRANK,

clap clap. good one.

1 Reply

@Ragman,

Can't take credit. Saw it on twitter.

1 Reply

@IRFRANK,

Pass the clap on to them, in that case.

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Wednesday night on local television, I saw the live press conference with the Notre Dame director of athletics. It struck me as the kind of image-protecting that got Penn State in trouble. The athletics director actually sobbed when he described Teo as the innocent victim of a cruel hoax.

1 Reply

@wandeljw,

I don't think the innocent victim role is going to work much longer. I am wondering how many more facts are going to emerge. There's one former NFL player who says he knows the 'girlfriend' and she is very real and living in Samoa. I will be interesting if she shows up on TV. I am sure there are folks looking for her. She may not have instigated this hoax, maybe they just used her identity. This is not over yet. Very entertaining.

The sad thing here to me is how gullible the media was.

1 Reply

@IRFRANK,

Quote:

The sad thing here to me is how gullible the media was.

The sad thing here to me is how irresponsible and greedy for dirt the media was and is.

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@Ragman,

Local news stories during the last 2 years have made some of us in the Midwest cynical about Notre Dame protecting the image of its football players. Since the 2010 season, two different Notre Dame players were accused of sexual assault on campus. Both were allowed to continue to play all the way through to the recent championship game. The school's security and administrators did not initiate investigations into the sexual assault allegations. One of the young women committed suicide. For the same administrators to investigate Teo being hoaxed is ironic to say the least.

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@wandeljw,

Shades of Penn State. 'Too Big to Fail', eh??

Hearing more detailed news now about this hoax. Apparently the guy that perpertrated/involved with this, has done this identical hoax (using the same women's name) to someone else a few years ago. Keeping my ear attuned for more about this.

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@Ragman,

Right! It is no stretch to compare Notre Dame to Penn State.

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@wandeljw,

I don't know the exact figures, but were I to hazard a guess, I'd say ND has richer alumni between them and Penn...mebbe among the richest in all of college futbol.

Just found an online source that claimed contributions at ND for FY 2010 donations totaled $227.5 million, including $116 million from alumni.

Now farbeit from me to point my finger to having such large cash donations to a pool of potential hush money.

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Email from AJ McCarron to Manti Teo

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