Manti Teo's Girlfriend Isn't Real
Probably the best piece of investigative journalism I've ever seen.
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Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, 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.
Manti Te'o did lose his grandmother this past fall. Annette Santiago died on Sept. 11, 2012, at the age of 72, according to Social Security Administration records in Nexis. But there is no SSA record there of the death of Lennay Marie Kekua, that day or any other. Her passing, recounted so many times in the national media, produces no obituary or funeral announcement in Nexis, and no mention in the Stanford student newspaper.
Nor is there any report of a severe auto accident involving a Lennay Kekua. Background checks turn up nothing. The Stanford registrar's office has no record that a Lennay Kekua ever enrolled. There is no record of her birth in the news. Outside of a few Twitter and Instagram accounts, there's no online evidence that Lennay Kekua ever existed.
The photographs identified as Kekua—in online tributes and on TV news reports—are pictures from the social-media accounts of a 22-year-old California woman who is not named Lennay Kekua. She is not a Stanford graduate; she has not been in a severe car accident; and she does not have leukemia. And she has never met Manti Te'o.
* * *
Here is what we know about Manti Te'o: He is an exceptional football player. He's a projected first-round NFL pick. He finished second in the Heisman voting, and he won a haul of other trophies: the Walter Camp, the Chuck Bednarik, the Butkus, the Bronko Nagurski. In each of his three seasons as a full-time starter, he racked up at least 100 tackles.
We also know that Te'o is a devout Mormon. When asked why he picked Notre Dame over Southern California, the school he had supported while growing up in Hawaii, he said he prayed on it. "Faith," he told ESPN, "is believing in something that you most likely can't see, but you believe to be true. You feel in your heart, and in your soul, that it's true, but you still take that leap."
We know, further, that Te'o adores his family. Te'o's father said that Manti had revered his grandfather, who died in January 2012, since the day he was born. He ran his sister's post-graduation luau. And he loved his late maternal grandmother, Annette Santiago. (Here's her obituary.)
But that's where the definite ends. From here, the rest of Te'o's public story begins to grade into fantasy, in the tradition of so much of Notre Dame's mythmaking and with the help of a compliant press.
Assembling a timeline of the Kekua-Te'o relationship is difficult. As Te'o's celebrity swelled, so did the pile of inspirational stories about his triumph over loss. Each ensuing story seemed to add yet another wrinkle to the narrative, and details ran athwart one another. Here is the general shape of things, based on occasionally contradictory media accounts:
Read on, at Deadspin: http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfr...
What do you make of this... Is anyone else as unsurprised as I am? And does anyone else feel a little scared at how hard someone can media-rape you these days?





All those missed tackles make
All those missed tackles make sense now. Teo was used to trying to embrace imaginary things.
Related note: BH - You catch
Related note: BH - You catch the Notre Dame follow up? It just seems bizarre that if they knew about it they said nothing.
Also - Teo not getting hoaxed IMO. Just trying to play the sympathy card BIG TIME to get great national attention.
Also- Deadspin just made every other sports news related website (SI, ESPN) along with AP and other look totally fucking awful. Incredible piece of journalism and it looks like Deadspin is the new standard in investigative journalism.
Also-
Brent Musberger says this - "A.J. McCarron's girlfriend is real, and she's spectacular."
Car wreck and then
Car wreck and then simultaneously diagnosed with leukemia. That's suspicious in itself.
But to your point, I am mildly surprised, yet completely indifferent. Everyone in this society we live in these days is grasping at any narrative that is inspiring, that is the most depressing thing to me.
I am more saddened by the fact that people eat this shit up when there are so many better alternatives to motivating your own existence and aspirations.
It is a completely non-value adding story in the first place and is only given credibility by the media and reporters who give it precedence. On a side note too, (I played sports as well, so don't take offense) I do not care at all about the stories or opinions of any athlete that has ever existed that I've heard of.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
his girlfriend is about as
his girlfriend is about as real as his national championship ring and heisman trophy, roll tide
Wow.
Wow.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
*sends this to friends at
*sends this to friends at ND*
if this is true, this is terrible.
Just a sophomore looking for an opportunity to start up this dream of mine.
unreal, and i actually felt
unreal, and i actually felt terrible for this guy. amazing article if all of the evidence found is 100%. what a shame on what seemed to be a likable sports figure.
"Hire character. Train skill." – Peter Schutz
VoidTrading: Brent Musberger
Brent Musberger says this - "A.J. McCarron's girlfriend is real, and she's spectacular."
Hahaha classic
I have to believe Te'o was in on this..how could he have been fooled about this? And why didn't he even go to her funeral? "Because she didn't want him to miss a game"...ok
This is broadcasted sports in
This is broadcasted sports in general. Can't even appreciate them for the game; it's just business.
He was definitely in on it...
He was definitely in on it... there's no way he wasn't. I agree with the poster who said what's saddest is that we all love to cling to stories like this, and everyone feels this need to attach some sort of narrative to themselves like it means something and they're boring without it. If even Manti Te'o needs to do it, that's saying something...
I hate victims who respect their executioners
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Completely insane. Does
Completely insane. Does anyone draft this guy now? Guys see their draft stock drop cause they smoke a joint, what happens to your draft stock if you did this?
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Notre Dame released a
Notre Dame released a statement, basically saying he was catfished. He claimed to have met her 3 years ago at a fucking game! More bullshit from college football as usual. Way too many holes and flaws in the scheme for him not to be in on it.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
College football is so awful.
College football is so awful. Low quality of play. Gimmicky offenses. Did I mention low quality of play?
Btw, who else thinks Chip Kelly is gonna flop on the Eagles? Steve Spurier "Fun & Gun" 2.0.
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Awkward...
Awkward...
"Social cohesion and puritanical morality place roughly on my list of concerns between whether I'll pick up jock itch at the gym this week (not likely, since I don't go the gym) and whether it'll rain in Christchurch, New Zealand next Tuesday."
-Eddie
Don't you have to get
Don't you have to get something in order for this to be a scheme? I mean the dude is legit good and this is just a crazy story. What benefit did he receive? One could say sympathy, but his grandmother died a week or two before.
I see this being a cruel hoax on a gullible dude. And if Vick can get signed, so with this dude.
MSF Website
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OkComputer: Notre Dame
TNA: Don't you have to get
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
TNA: Don't you have to get
I hate victims who respect their executioners
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OkComputer: Notre Dame
I'm a lover, not a fighter, but I'm also a fighter, so don't get any ideas.
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SirTradesaLot: Let's take a
I still don't see the
MSF Website
MACC Website
MSF Twitter
she's still real to me dammit
pics or it happened
Also, if he really did get
I'm a lover, not a fighter, but I'm also a fighter, so don't get any ideas.
My WSO Blog
I know a Nigerian prince who
Notre Dame knew about this in
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
So she was an online
"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan
parctribe: I know a Nigerian
"Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Benjamin Franklin
Idk if this has already been
jmr1991: Idk if this has
Te'o had to be in on it. How
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
Yeah. Pretty much. Trying to
I think he's gay.
Good point. A lot of people
I'd come out even if I was
I hate victims who respect their executioners
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BlackHat: I'd come out even
Has there even been one guy
Two people I do not trust 1.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
Definitely gay
Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
You guys realize 7 Americans
MSF Website
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You realize that we can be
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
Someone just Rick Roll'd the
I hate victims who respect their executioners
Follow BH & Co. on Twitter: @DumbLuckCapital
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SirTradesaLot: OkComputer:
1/2 of the WSO Bash Brothers
"Licensed to Ill It"
We all know Bro J did it...
OkComputer: You realize that
MSF Website
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BlackHat: Someone just Rick
rufiolove: SirTradesaLot:
TNA: OkComputer: You
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
just come out of the closet
Now it appears his friends
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
Unfortunately the other thing