Manti Te'o, you have a lot of explaining to do! The star Notre Dame linebacker, who is a shoe-in for a big pay day in the NFL, is being accused of something pretty, well, morbid.
According to Deadspin, Notre Dame linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te'o made up the story about his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, who reportedly died earlier this fall because of leukemia.
Here is where it gets even more bizarre. She didn't die, because she didn't exist.
Deadspin reports "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. "
"The photographs that are being identified as Kekua in online tributes and 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."
If this report is true, it's really going to be very hard for people to believe anything Te'o says in the future to say the least.
This Notre Dame season was an incredible one, and it seemed before and after every thrilling win an announcer would bring up the fact that Te'o is playing with a heavy heart after losing his grandmother and girlfriend in the same week.
Now the final twist in a story that isn't making sense.
Te'o now claims he is the victim here and this was all a hoax?
The University of Notre Dame released this statement today, Jan.16, which makes the story all that more puzzling.
"On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators."
Hopefully the truth will be revealed, but the only one who can do that is Te'o himself.
If this story is proven true, it may take Te'o off of several teams' draft boards this April. Sure teams want great players, but they also look at people's character, and if Te'o wants to recover his, he needs to clear up this mess as soon as possible.
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