Manti Te’o has become a national role model in last five months, becoming a Heisman finalist, leading Notre Dame to an undefeated regular season and becoming a projected top 10 pick in this years NFL draft. But this story has shocked the world and knocked down Te’o’s credibility in the public eye.
This past week the world found out that Te’o’s girl friend who supposedly died in September did not exist.
The death that had America rally around Te’o and Notre Dame is now a hoax and a complete joke.
“To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone’ sick joke and constant lies was, and is painful and humiliating” Te’o said in a statement this past week.
The legend of Te’o girl friend started in September before Notre Dame’s 20-3 rout of Michigan State, when supposedly Lennay Kekua had died of Leukemia.
America then grew affectionate toward Te’o and made him famous by backing him up and supporting throughout the season. Everyone now knew what Te’o went through and everyone now knew the adversity that Te’o faced. Everyone loved Te’o.
But this whole feel good pushing through adversity story is as good as dead as the girlfriend that inspired Notre Dame and America is fake. Te’o was caught in a catfish scam that had him the center of someone’s cruel joke.
Te’o found out on December 6th that Lennay Kekua the girl that he thought he was communicating online with and died of Cancer did not exist was just a hoax put on by someone to set him up and make a fool out of him.
This bizarre and twisted situation has made sports fans loose respect for Te’o and question the character of a player who was the face of the college football and a person who everyone wanted to be and who everyone was rooting for.
For now the Te’o hoax stands grounded but as time goes by Te’o will have questions that half to be answered because if not if will affect his stock n the NFL draft and will affect his career in professional football and beyond football.
The Manti Te’o situation has showed us that in life no one is perfect and that sometimes the most uplifting story can have the most tragedy.