Manti Te'o, the promising Notre Dame linebacker who is already drawing interest from NFL teams, has been embroiled in a very odd hoax that he hasn't spoken about publicly - until now. Te'o answered questions last Friday night about the Lennay Kekua girlfriend hoax, as the whole thing is being labeled. While he notes that the alleged creator of the hoax has apologized to him, he also admitted that he "tailored" his accounts of meeting the woman.
Te'o gave an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, and had a lawyer seated next to him through the entire thing. Te'o noted that he went to Notre Dame officials about the hoax late in December, but that people connected with those perpetrating the hoax showed up to see him at the team hotel prior to the team's BCS championship game against Alabama. Te'o admitted that the whole affair negatively affected his play in that game, which his team lost 42-14.
Te'o noted that he got a call from someone who said she was Kekua on December 6, though Kekua had supposedly died several months prior to that. Te'o noted of that, "I just got mad. I went on a rampage. The Lennay I knew died on September 12." The whole story is odd because Te'o never actually met Kekua, but learned via phone that she had been in an accident. That has led many to believe that Te'o was involved with the hoax from the inside, rather than being a victim. He added, "Well, when they hear the facts, they'll know. They'll know that there is no way that I could be part of this."
Te'o gave an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, and had a lawyer seated next to him through the entire thing. Te'o noted that he went to Notre Dame officials about the hoax late in December, but that people connected with those perpetrating the hoax showed up to see him at the team hotel prior to the team's BCS championship game against Alabama. Te'o admitted that the whole affair negatively affected his play in that game, which his team lost 42-14.
Te'o noted that he got a call from someone who said she was Kekua on December 6, though Kekua had supposedly died several months prior to that. Te'o noted of that, "I just got mad. I went on a rampage. The Lennay I knew died on September 12." The whole story is odd because Te'o never actually met Kekua, but learned via phone that she had been in an accident. That has led many to believe that Te'o was involved with the hoax from the inside, rather than being a victim. He added, "Well, when they hear the facts, they'll know. They'll know that there is no way that I could be part of this."
