January 17th, 2013 at 8:28 AM ^
If he is gay I would bet his own family, faith, football culture and NFL aspirations would have as much, if not more to do with his discomfort in coming out than the university he attended.
January 17th, 2013 at 8:30 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 8:45 AM ^
There might have been a time when "super religious college" was an apt description of ND, but certainly not in the past 50 years.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:01 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
I said that last night, that this was compensating for something else big - like that he's gay.
In this era of wild, unsubstantiated (and irresponsible) speculation that's what I'm putting my money on.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:09 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 9:00 AM ^
At this point I'm split between two options.
Manti Te'o is gay, and this was an elborate cover up to explain why the super star ND player wasn't hooking up with any girls or didn't have a girlfriend. Maybe they broke up and it wasn't mutual, so he had to "kill her off" to prevent this Tuiasosopo guy from continuing to contact him on Twitter without drawing attention to himself (seeing as he is also a Mormon and works in the church).
Manti Te'o is the greatest rube of all time. Which, at this point, is seeming more and more plausible. Still, that ND press conference reeked of, "We're making this shit up as we go along, and we have no idea what's really going on but we are backing our guy 100%."
Edit: I also have no idea about ND's "student code of conduct" that people are suddenly bringing up. Is being gay grounds for getting booted out of Notre Dame? I should hope/think not.
Double Edit: I looked it up, and you can totally be gay at ND.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^
Was listening to local radio in DC. They interviewed a guy who just played at Delaware, who had played with Manti from 7th grade to sophomore year...
Get this:
Manti lived about an hour away from their school. Manti told everyone he had a girlfriend back home, so no one on that team had ever met her.
Sound familiar?
Only one thing comes to mind....
Manti's gay and is covering it up.
Not that there's anything wrong with it!
January 17th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
Yeah, then there is this:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^
If no further "truth" comes out in media, we can deduce what happened just by his draft position, Since no team is going to touch him without fully investigating him.
If he goes in the first round, he was just a victim - being naïve is not going to bother teams.
If he goes in 2nd or 3rd round, NFL does not believe his story, and they are wary of his character
If he goes any later than that, teams think he is gay and will be worried about what would happen in the locker room.
January 17th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
This is the NFL, where a guy who at the very least stayed silent and did not cooperate with a murder investigation is going on a farewell tour and covered like he is going out a conquering hero. Being shady is not that big of a deal.
January 17th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
Wouldn't his Mormonism be a perfectly good/acceptable "cover" for not having a girlfriend or not hooking up with girls?
January 17th, 2013 at 8:21 AM ^
This story is almost as good as when the Tiger story first broke out.
Normally I'm not a rubber necker at all, but I just can't seem to look away from this one. So many angles to go with it, so much win.
January 17th, 2013 at 8:21 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 8:31 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 8:37 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 8:32 AM ^
So now we know why we haven't seen Irish lately.
EDIT: This doesn't even make sense. Oh well.
January 17th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 8:40 AM ^
How is it that not one acquaintance, co-worker, roommate, friend, or family member of the girl in the co-opted photographs happened to see her picture all over the news in September? Wouldn't someone have seen this story and said "uh... that girl ain't named Lennay, she isn't Manti Te'o's girlfriend, and she's definitely not dead"?
At least if MY picture showed up on the news as being romantically linked to a football player, and also dead, I'd kinda hope one of my buds would do me a solid and forward a link with the subject "for your immediate review."
January 17th, 2013 at 8:41 AM ^
They'd make a meme of you and you'd be an internet sensation by the next morning.
January 17th, 2013 at 8:52 AM ^
Well I think this takes away all chances of teo being on NCAA 14 cover.
January 17th, 2013 at 8:58 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 9:04 AM ^
Perhaps, but he WILL be highly sought after by NFL fantasy team owners.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:11 AM ^
In case you dont remember Teo told many stories about this girlfriend including
actual face to face scenarios...NOW its all a hoax????? hes LYING through his teeth
an ND...Kelly..the AD and the school are trying to Coiver up for him..it wasnt a Hoax
perpetuated against him it was a fabricated Story by Him and ND in order to Gin up
emotion to win FB games. or cover something else up...DISGUSTING
January 17th, 2013 at 9:06 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 10:01 AM ^
That's what he's trying to say.
January 17th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^
You think it's a coincidence that the name rearranged is phonetically extremely close to leukemia?
January 17th, 2013 at 9:06 AM ^
Anyone read Pat Forde's article on this. I guess naivety about Notre Dame is more contagious than the flu epidemic. Go read it for a laugh.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:07 AM ^
on this wonderful ND tire fire but . .
Honestly, how much must it suck to be an ND player right now.
None of these kids signed up for this media shitstorm.
1. Purple faced screaming douche as a coach.
2. Screaming douche partly culpable in negligent death of assistant.
3. Teammate accused of rape, players & admin accused of intimidation/coverup, then victim comits suicide. Ugly situation regardless of facts.
4. Humiliating loss in championship after overrated cinderella season.
5. Purple douche (who is tolerated because of coaching prowes) flirts with NFL.
6. Inspirational heisman-worthy teammate appears to be a complete fraud.
I love that this happened to the the ND fanbase, and the administration, but I wouldn't wish a fraction of this shit on any 17-21 yr old.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:15 AM ^
When you sign up to play for Notre Dame, aren't you more or less agreeing to a blanket, omnibus media shitstorm? It's like dating Lindsey Lohan and griping about all the chaos and papparazzi.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
Every recruit should know that ND has a history of hiring idiots & assholes to be their head coaches. They often leave, or get fired quickly after unrealistic expectations, so you never know who you might be playing for. Accidents also happen, and sex/crime scandals even crop up every few years at some level.
But THIS? from your Heisman-hyped teammate? Straw, meet camel's back.
Most of these players are quality kids who were heavily recruited by Michigan as well.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:47 AM ^
they played for a NC (and lost, but it's better than losing in the Outback Bowl). Also, ND has a top 10 recruiting class and doesn't have mass defections, so their players like their coach.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:22 AM ^
If you are an NFL GM, do you use a first round draft pick on Teo right now?
January 17th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^
the story will have calmed down by draft day, and all the facts will be out by then. he might slip a couple spots, but he'll still go first round. if Ricky Williams and Randy Moss can go first round, so can Te'o. Especially if it turns out that the he's covering for being gay theory is the true one, then that will wash away his actions and someone will take him.
I know some Bears fans that are hoping he'll fall to #20 so they can draft him to replace Urlacher.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^
Hard to say. If I was a GM, I'd still rely on my scouting team's evaluation of him as a player, then I'd use interviews to form my opinion of him as a person. If my scouting team says he's worthy of a first-round pick, I think the only thing that would prevent me from taking him in the first round would be if it turns out that he was involved in the whole ruse. I wouldn't want that sort of dishonesty/deception in my organization. Otherwise, I'd be willing to look past all this in order to bolster my defense.
January 17th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^
Definitely agree here.
I think this to some extent raises some interesting issues with him... he's either the most naive person in the world (which now everyone knows and consequently he will need even more help managing his transition to being suddenly very wealthy) or he's a sociopathic liar.
If the former, I think a team would still be willing to take him (but if I were the GM I would definitely want him to have a good support network in place so he doesn't fall for anymore crap and bring drama into the lockerroom). If the latter and it turns out he made this whole thing up, then I wouldn't want him.
I think either way he slips from current projections (around 8) down to 15 or so.
January 17th, 2013 at 10:02 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
I don't want to give him any excuses because he really did have a bad game and Alabama definitely beat him up... but, in hindsight, do you expect someone to perform at their peak when their whole world is crashing down on them (in terms of either learning he has been a victim of a huge hoax or realizing all his lies are about to come out)?
January 17th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 10:15 AM ^
Really it depends on what the media digs up on the next week or so. As it stands though, Teo's is trending in the Terrell Owens direction, talented but with baggage that isn't worth the talent. Plus the NC game dinged the talented part as well a bit. I'd be inclined to consider other options via the draft or free agency myself.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:36 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^
has said he interviewed her in person.
January 17th, 2013 at 9:48 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^
January 17th, 2013 at 9:47 AM ^
Louise Karkrash Keymeia
January 17th, 2013 at 10:09 AM ^
As others have said, the smart money is on a homosexuality coverup. It is just ashame that he feels the need to do that. Be it due to family pressure, religious pressure, or the fact gay is not all that well accepted in the NFL. If it isn't that, he's either a soulless PR seeking con man or ND is clearly making admissions exceptions to let morons in.
Personally I hope Te'o is coming clean with his friends and family right now and they'll accept him and be willing to help move past the fact he lied to the entire nation.
Also NDNation is hilarious right now, they're all screaming how Te'o was part of a con without pausing to think how bad that makes the school look to have a student fall for such a con.
January 17th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
If he is gay (and that is a big "if"), this entire story can easily be spun to make Manti a sympathetic figure. I don't think anyone would blame him for attempting to cover up this fact about himself given the nature of the sports world, particularly a football locker room (Edit: Not to mention his religion). Everything he has done up to this point would make total sense in light of such a revelation.
And, hey, If he played his cards right he could be the Jackie Robinson of gay athletes, turning this into one of the all time great sports stories.