Lennay Kekua, A Hoax!

[BeauBenken]

Without even going over the details, honestly ask yourselves:

Is it more likely that Manti Te'o, a man revered by his community for how great of a man he is, got tricked in a way so popular there is a movie(s) and a television show about it, or is it more likely that Manti Te'o, a man revered by his community and the nation for how great of a man he is, created a first ever one of a kind, large and complicated publicity stunt to get more exposure even though he is already the star of the Notre Dame football team and his grandmother had just passed away?

Come on guys. You know Manti is a good human being. Why would he do this.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

This is the strangest story I've ever heard. So many questions right now. Hate to see the people jumping the gun and killing Manti for this publicly.

 

[greyhammer90]

Without even going over the details, honestly ask yourselves:

Is it more likely that Manti Te'o, a man revered by his community for how great of a man he is, got tricked in a way so popular there is a movie(s) and a television show about it, or is it more likely that Manti Te'o, a man revered by his community and the nation for how great of a man he is, created a first ever one of a kind, large and complicated publicity stunt to get more exposure even though he is already the star of the Notre Dame football team and his grandmother had just passed away?

Come on guys. You know Manti is a good human being. Why would he do this.

Also it's important to keep in mind that it wasn't like he knew he was going on a Heisman run... We were 2-0. With a good performance against Navy and a really bad performance against Purdue. If we had gotten beat by MSU the whole "played through tragedy" thing would have been a back page footnote that was brought up maybe once more at the end of the season for a feel good piece. That's a lot to go through and a lot to risk for what would have been a mild publicity boost that would have been forgotten as soon as we lost a game.

 

[NDohio]

whichever ways it works out no emdorsements deals are going to be coming Manti's way now..companies wont touch him with a 10 ft pole..he will probably loose hundreds of thousands of dollars because of all of this..very sad for him either way

Ray Lewis was somehow involved in a murder case. We don't really know the story. He still gets endorsements.

I don't agree with this - unless Manti really botches this today when he speaks.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

HerLoyalSons has done a great job including all of this info...

Hook, Line, and Sinker — Manti Te’o Reeled into Hoax | Her Loyal Sons

Gotta bump this article. Take the time to read it if you already haven't. This whole thing is bizarre, but bottom line, it's a common internet hoax that happens daily.

I completely agree with this quote from the article:

Personally, I don’t see how Manti Te’o doesn’t come off as the victim in this whole situation. Despite that though, there are still some blanks that need to be filled in. Brian Te’o's false comments about Lennay to the South Bend Tribune must be addressed. Manti would also do himself a big favor by detailing how he met “Lennay” as well.

I did have a huge issue with Greeny on Mike and Mike this morning saying this is a huge story and would've been even if it wasn't involving Manti. That simply isn't true. This happens daily and we almost never hear about it. It's disturbing that there are people out there who have nothing better to do, so they pull out these alter-egos for fun.

It's very unfortunate that after the season ND had, we've had to deal with losing the Heisman, getting blown out in the NC game, almost losing our head coach, and now this. I hope Manti comes clean today and announces the whole truth, whatever it may be and we move forward with some positive momentum gained on January 25th

 

[BeauBenken]

Also it's important to keep in mind that it wasn't like he knew he was going on a Heisman run... We were 2-0. With a good performance against Navy and a really bad performance against Purdue. If we had gotten beat by MSU the whole "played through tragedy" thing would have been a back page footnote that was brought up maybe once more at the end of the season for a feel good piece. That's a lot to go through and a lot to risk for what would have been a mild publicity boost that would have been forgotten as soon as we lost a game.

Exactly.

They Media over played the whole story because it was something you "couldn't make up" when in all actuality it was. Not by Te'o or by Notre Dame, but by someone claiming to be Lennay Kekua.

 

[BobD]

Woke up this morning hoping things might be a little better.......nope.

I work with a bunch of Stanford and USC fans, today will be unbearable.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Mike Greenberg just cited an Arizona Cardinals player (Samoan) who claims to have known and met Lennay...wtf

 

[Grahambo]

I met my wife online and proposed to her without meeting her. Its possible and not out of the realm of possibility. We have two beautiful children and it used to be embarrassing to say you met online.

Can't imagine how a MLB for ND feels.

As with the BK situation, tread carefully. The same people who are demonizing Manti are the same people who heaped praise on him without fact checking and are doing so again without all the facts.

Deadspin did a good job but put out the story too soon. They knew ESPN and the Te'os were planning a release at their respective times. Deadspin is relying on an 80% claim given by the hoaxer's name.

I believe Manti and understand his need to lie. Im betting he didnt mean for it to spin as it did. I will let him speak as we let others speak. Innocent until proven guilty. If Swarbrick is fully behind Manti, so am I.

 

[betecd]

This is reaching Lifetime movie status

 

[magogian]

This is how I see it:

Manti was duped. He met a girl online, thought he had a connection, they became friends, and he fell in love with her. BUT he was embarrassed of the fact that he had met his famous girlfriend online, so he lied a little bit about the small details to the press and his teammates, trying to embellish their relationship. Then, when she "died," and the media absolutely took off with the story, Te'o had nowhere to go but to go along with the little white lies he had told before her death. What was he going to say when all these media outlets were asking how he felt? "Oh, yeah, it wasn't a huge deal we just kept in touch online I had never even met her in person." I think that the media took off with it, he freaked out, and just had to go along with it because he was afraid to admit that A) The famous relationship was actually not all it was cracked up to be and B) That he lied.

So I think that could be why there are inconsistencies in the timeline, because Manti was telling little white lies about his relationship with her that didn't really completely match up chronologically, and as the story grew it became more and more difficult to keep that imaginary timeline together. Now, I guess Manti would be guilty of embellishing the story a little bit, but if this is true then I don't think it would be nearly, NEARLY the PR nightmare it would be in any other scenario.

Just my $.02

Yep, this is it.

 

[greyhammer90]

I met my wife online and proposed to her without meeting her. Its possible and not out of the realm of possibility.

You're one hell of a gambler bro. Props

 

[Delta7]

It's not hard to think he was duped and was in love. I hardly knew my wife when we went on our first date, a few months later we were married with our first kid on the way.

But this is news and it's seen as a scandal, a sexy one at that. No matter how this plays out and how innocent any one party is, the media will hype the snot out of it because people will watch, read or listen.

 

[NDBoiler]

This is how I see it:

Manti was duped. He met a girl online, thought he had a connection, they became friends, and he fell in love with her. BUT he was embarrassed of the fact that he had met his famous girlfriend online, so he lied a little bit about the small details to the press and his teammates, trying to embellish their relationship. Then, when she "died," and the media absolutely took off with the story, Te'o had nowhere to go but to go along with the little white lies he had told before her death. What was he going to say when all these media outlets were asking how he felt? "Oh, yeah, it wasn't a huge deal we just kept in touch online I had never even met her in person." I think that the media took off with it, he freaked out, and just had to go along with it because he was afraid to admit that A) The famous relationship was actually not all it was cracked up to be and B) That he lied.

So I think that could be why there are inconsistencies in the timeline, because Manti was telling little white lies about his relationship with her that didn't really completely match up chronologically, and as the story grew it became more and more difficult to keep that imaginary timeline together. Now, I guess Manti would be guilty of embellishing the story a little bit, but if this is true then I don't think it would be nearly, NEARLY the PR nightmare it would be in any other scenario.

Just my $.02

Finally have a chance to revisit this thread since yesterday afternoon. At that time, I thought there was little chance this could have any credence to it, but obviously now that more information has come out, it is clear that a hoax in at least some form was perpetrated. I think what is stated above is IMO the likely scenario how this played out. I just can't imagine how it will be for Manti to know that there will be people constantly snickering behind his back as he goies through this next phase in his life. Can you even fathom what might be said when he walks into an NFL locker room for the first time as a rookie? Perhaps instead of him being "strung up" by the media (and the public) maybe a little more criticism should be levied at the perpetrators of this ruse, but we all know that won't happen because then the media (and the public) will look like even bigger hippocrytes after buying the emotional story hook line and sinker with minimal fact checking. Perhaps this is a more telling commentary on the state of modern journalism.

On another note, God forbid if Manti was indeed party to it, because now ND has stuck its' neck out on the line for him too with the release of their statement, not to mention the possible implications of his parents' involvement based on their interview comments (or maybe they were taken in by the hoax too!). He possibly could end up having the polar opposite effect on ND compared to what we all felt he would when he leaves campus. I hope that's not true for everyone involved's sake.

 

[IrishLax]

Also it's important to keep in mind that it wasn't like he knew he was going on a Heisman run... We were 2-0. With a good performance against Navy and a really bad performance against Purdue. If we had gotten beat by MSU the whole "played through tragedy" thing would have been a back page footnote that was brought up maybe once more at the end of the season for a feel good piece. That's a lot to go through and a lot to risk for what would have been a mild publicity boost that would have been forgotten as soon as we lost a game.

This is really the best argument him being involved. Unless Manti is a sick individual who just wanted to con the entire United States there is no motive for him to have pre-planned this from the beginning and then do it when he decided to. Timing makes no sense. There is no end game for him to have been complicit.

I firmly believe he got duped and then when this story took off like crazy with all of the national media attention he & his family chose to embellish the backstory rather than go "woah hold on stop this was actually always a strictly online relationship." Makes sense if they thought she was a real person and had passed.... the majority of people who meet online don't admit they met there.

 

[Grahambo]

You're one hell of a gambler bro. Props

I was 19 at the time too. I'm not embarrassed anymore. Again, can't imagine how he feels.

 

[chicago51]

I met my wife online and proposed to her without meeting her. Its possible and not out of the realm of possibility. We have two beautiful children and it used to be embarrassing to say you met online.

Can't imagine how a MLB for ND feels.

As with the BK situation, tread carefully. The same people who are demonizing Manti are the same people who heaped praise on him without fact checking and are doing so again without all the facts.

Deadspin did a good job but put out the story too soon. They knew ESPN and the Te'os were planning a release at their respective times. Deadspin is relying on an 80% claim given by the hoaxer's name.

I believe Manti and understand his need to lie. Im betting he didnt mean for it to spin as it did. I will let him speak as we let others speak. Innocent until proven guilty. If Swarbrick is fully behind Manti, so am I.

This thread as to win the 2013 Conspiracy of the Year Award next Irish Envy award season.

That being said I agree with all of the post above. I say be patient and wait for my information on the story to develope and wait to hear from Manti and others.

 

[wizards8507]

Okay I get Manti' s side but then who is the person this NFL fullback claims to know in real life?

 

[Mr. Larson]

Yeah Im too lazy to go back to the beginning, but I was on when it first broke and someone brought it the gay thing. I msged a poster (can't remember and too lazy to look) and asked where it came from, but never got a msg back. To get that he is gay from this event is a huuuuuge stretch that doesn't make sense.

Agreed that it's a huge stretch and doesn't make sense.

Manti using a fake GF (and her sickness and ultimately death) to cover that fact that he was gay came from the COMMENT SECTION of the Deadspin article. It's grounded in absolutely nothing...possibly a poor attempt at humor.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Anybody know if Manti will speak today and what time if he does?

 

[Irish#1]

Random thoughts/comments

1. Swarbrick and the university wouldn't put their reputations on the line if they didn't feel Manti wasn't honest with them.
2. As big a national story that this was when his grandmother and girlfriend died, I find it interesting that none of the media tried to show up for Laynaa's(?) funeral for some pictures and to expand on the story.
3. If ESPN reporter Woj!@#$% couldn't find an obit or record of her accident (police reports anyone!) why didn't he dig deeper then?
4. It's easy to get duped onlne when it comes to the opposite sex. It happens all the time to a lot of very smart people. Think about how you acted emotionally when you first met your wife or girlfriend.
5. Heard Todd McShay and Brian Billick this morning. Both said they don't think this will affect his draft status unless teams uncover some deep personality issues.
6. I'm in Manti's corner at the moment, but there are still some questions he needs to answer.

 

[BobD]

The whole story is so mind boggling it inspires speculation even more bizarre.

 

[NDohio]

Anybody know if Manti will speak today and what time if he does?

If = Yes

When = ?

 

[dublinirish]

Random thoughts/comments
5. Heard Todd McShay and Brian Billick this morning. Both said they don't think this will affect his draft status unless teams uncover some deep personality issues.
needs to answer.

For Manti's sack im glad to hear this.

 

[NDBoiler]

For Manti's sack im glad to hear this.

Better edit that one, chief.

 

[josejose4482]

@YahooForde

Was told late last night by an ND source that Manti Te'o is expected to do a one-on-one interview today with a single TV reporter.

 

[Irish#1]

I met my wife online and proposed to her without meeting her.

Talk about a leap of faith! Happy it's worked out for you.

 

[NDohio]

Random thoughts/comments

1. Swarbrick and the university wouldn't put their reputations on the line if they didn't feel Manti wasn't honest with them.
2. As big a national story that this was when his grandmother and girlfriend died, I find it interesting that none of the media tried to show up for Laynaa's(?) funeral for some pictures and to expand on the story.
3. If ESPN reporter Woj!@#$% couldn't find an obit or record of her accident (police reports anyone!) why didn't he dig deeper then?
4. It's easy to get duped onlne when it comes to the opposite sex. It happens all the time to a lot of very smart people. Think about how you acted emotionally when you first met your wife or girlfriend.
5. Heard Todd McShay and Brian Billick this morning. Both said they don't think this will affect his draft status unless teams uncover some deep personality issues.
6. I'm in Manti's corner at the moment, but there are still some questions he needs to answer.

I am so glad we have Jack. He is the best. Watching him on Sportscenter this morning helped make me feel so much better about this situation. He truly is a great asset for the University.

 

[BobD]

Just to be clear. From this point forward, none of you exist until I meet you in person.

 

[Grahambo]

From now on, just call me Tyler.