Nielsen Poll: Manti Te'o is America's Most Disliked Athlete

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

Latest survey from Nielsen shows Manti " The Catfish" Te'o has taken the title of America's Most Disliked Athlete, tying Lance Armstrong at the top.  Here are the rankings:

T-1: Lance Armstrong
T-1: Manti Te'o
3: Tiger Woods
T-4: Jay Cutler
T-4: Metta World Peace
6: Alex Rodriguez
7: Michael Vick
T-8: Kurt Busch
T-8: Kobe Bryant
T-8: Tony Romo

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2013/02/05/americas-10-most-disliked-athletes/

michgoblue

February 5th, 2013 at 7:11 PM ^

1). He played up a story to the media about his his gf died, but he had never even met the girl. Want to say that someone you got close to over the Internet died? Sure. Even saying a close friend. But, if you have never met her, she is not your gf. And to allow the media to run with such a story is pathetic.

2) even after he allegedly found out about the hoax, he still gave inter ores talking about his gf dying. At that point, any possible gullibility excuse foes out the window.

iawolve

February 5th, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^

Involved. Seriously, this has been a mountain of pain to inflict on us. I would have been happy at fraud being committed. Instead we got him on the talk shows along with his accomplice/buddy/boyfriend(?) which has simply been more than enough for me.

iawolve

February 5th, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^

Involved. Seriously, this has been a mountain of pain to inflict on us. I would have been happy at fraud being committed. Instead we got him on the talk shows along with his accomplice/buddy/boyfriend(?) which has simply been more than enough for me.

Brhino

February 5th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^

Wow.  That's a list of cheaters (in their sports and in their marriages), abusers, drug users, whiners, quitters... and one not so bright Hawaiin.  No way he belongs on that list.

Leaders And Best

February 5th, 2013 at 7:11 PM ^

But given the death of his girlfriend became the story of college football and even mainstream media for a time, this is the type of reaction I would expect from the general public. No one likes being fed a fake feel-good story.

It doesn't help that Manti and ND continued the hoax well after they knew the truth. I think people would have been more sympathetic if he had come clean earlier before the story broke. If Manti had come clean before Deadspin broke the story, his reputation would not be ruined today.

BigBlue02

February 5th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^

If we are to believe Manti, his parents should be pretty pissed off at him. After he found out about the hoax, when asked about what was the toughest part of the season, he had the choice between his fake dead girlfriend and his real dead grandmother...and we know which one he picked. Being such a family man, I would think his family wouldn't be too thrilled about that.

But then again, he is a fucking idiot and a liar, so I don't really mind his reputation being ruined

xxxxNateDaGreat

February 5th, 2013 at 9:06 PM ^

Their choices were/are:

1.) "Our son is a terrible person who manipulated a story of the death of a fake woman for personal gain while simultaneously trivializing the importance of a REAL family member's death. We are truly awful parents. Please forgive us."

OR

2.) "Our son is a sweet, gentle, and naive person who goes to church every sunday and would never do any of that filthy "skype-ing" with a proper woman and was tricked and taken advantage of by a terrible internet person who wanted his money. Thank God we raised our boy right!"

Which story do you think a parent is more likely to want to run away with?

michgoblue

February 5th, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^

Some of these guys cheated, took drugs and profited from it.

Some (Te'o) lied to America about a dead gf after finding out that she didnt exist.

And some are just dicks.

All deserving of our dislike.

Nut ray Lewis was involved on a double murder, stonewalled the cops, burned his own clothing to hide evidence, plead guilty to impeding the investigation and shows no remorse, and most of the media act as if he is a hero.

GoBlueMAGNUS

February 5th, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^

Tiger story: tips a valet $5 finds out it wasnt the valet who actually got the car, hunts the guy down and takes his $5 back and never tips the other valet. What a cheapskate.

OmarDontScare

February 5th, 2013 at 7:11 PM ^

Good. If you think ND and Teo aren't capable of trying to pull off this ridiculous lie then you don't know ND or their history very well.

bronxblue

February 5th, 2013 at 8:01 PM ^

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Te'o, any list that doesn't list Armstrong and Metta World Peace at the top is invalid.  Armstrong lied to people for over a decade and sued anyone who spoke the truth.  Metta is a crazy man who fights everyone and seems to be half a second from killing people, and yet a college kid who lied/was tricked about a GF is the monster.

pbmd

February 5th, 2013 at 8:12 PM ^

this poll appears to only have queried haters.

how about a list of the most hated athletes compiled by poling people who are not haters!

maizenblue87

February 5th, 2013 at 8:51 PM ^

I hate ND in the sense of a bitter sports rivalry, but T'eo simply humiliated himself and made others looked foolish.

Others caused serious harm and are worthy of hate - Armstrong (ruined lives through years of stonewalling), Vick (killed dogs, and I'm a dog lover), OJ Simpson (do you really think he's innocent?), etc.

AMazinBlue

February 6th, 2013 at 12:02 AM ^

Johnny Miller tops the most hated Golf Announcer list every year.  He also tops the favorite Golf Announcer list every year.  Stats are just that, a slice of the detail that you are trying to prove.  You can make a valid argument about just about anything if you take the right slice of stats.