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For now, Te'o's mission is Irish football
Linebacker intends to follow career path and decide on Mormon mission later
August 04, 2010|By Brian Hamilton, Tribune reporter
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Manti Te'o was among more than 20 people in the room when Chris Badger, a freshman Notre Dame teammate and fellow Mormon, recently received a mission call that will send him to Ecuador for the next two years.
As for Te'o, the Irish's stud sophomore linebacker and defensive linchpin? It appears for him, it's mission improbable.
Barring what is basically an actual act of God, Te'o expects to finish his career at Notre Dame without a traditional Mormon mission interrupting along the way.
"That's the plan so far," Te'o told the Tribune recently. "The plan is I'll just play out (my career), just do football. But I don't know what'll happen."
It's not a terribly surprising conclusion for a player who will anchor the Irish defense when preseason practice begins Saturday, especially with an NFL future looming. But in announcing Te'o's decision not to take a mission after his freshman season, Notre Dame said it was delayed "for at least one year and possibly until later in his life."
Te'o always will leave room for a spiritual epiphany to change his mind, but departing after his sophomore season is not in his plans.
"I'm going to say I'll be here," he said. "I don't know what's in store. Nobody knows what's in store, what can happen. But as for me, I'm looking to be here for the next two, three years and hopefully get a championship."
Brian Te'o, Manti's father, said he and his wife laid out several scenarios for when their son could take a mission, emphasizing that the best window was right after a debut season at Notre Dame in which Te'o recorded the most tackles (63) by an Irish freshman since 1975.
After Te'o elected to return to Notre Dame, it became clearer to the family that he could do missionary work of a kind simply by comporting himself well as a high-profile college athlete and offering teammates counsel during rough patches in their personal lives.
"Even though we told him we supported him, it weighed on him heavily that somehow he was disappointing us," Brian Te'o said.
"Then as he had all these experiences with his teammates and others were willing to question why he doesn't drink, why he doesn't smoke, he started to find his purpose of why it was important that he stay. With him sharing that with us, we're like, 'OK. I'm beginning to understand your purpose.'"
So, too, does Te'o himself.
"Right now, I'm just focused on football, doing whatever it takes for our team to win, to be a championship caliber football team," Te'o said. "I promise that I'll finish doing my schooling and become the best football player I can be and keep myself spiritually in tune to the Lord. Because if He needs me somewhere, I'm going to go."
For the foreseeable future, Te'o believes he's right where he should be.
For now, Te'o's mission is Irish football - Chicago Tribune
Linebacker intends to follow career path and decide on Mormon mission later
August 04, 2010|By Brian Hamilton, Tribune reporter
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Manti Te'o was among more than 20 people in the room when Chris Badger, a freshman Notre Dame teammate and fellow Mormon, recently received a mission call that will send him to Ecuador for the next two years.
As for Te'o, the Irish's stud sophomore linebacker and defensive linchpin? It appears for him, it's mission improbable.
Barring what is basically an actual act of God, Te'o expects to finish his career at Notre Dame without a traditional Mormon mission interrupting along the way.
"That's the plan so far," Te'o told the Tribune recently. "The plan is I'll just play out (my career), just do football. But I don't know what'll happen."
It's not a terribly surprising conclusion for a player who will anchor the Irish defense when preseason practice begins Saturday, especially with an NFL future looming. But in announcing Te'o's decision not to take a mission after his freshman season, Notre Dame said it was delayed "for at least one year and possibly until later in his life."
Te'o always will leave room for a spiritual epiphany to change his mind, but departing after his sophomore season is not in his plans.
"I'm going to say I'll be here," he said. "I don't know what's in store. Nobody knows what's in store, what can happen. But as for me, I'm looking to be here for the next two, three years and hopefully get a championship."
Brian Te'o, Manti's father, said he and his wife laid out several scenarios for when their son could take a mission, emphasizing that the best window was right after a debut season at Notre Dame in which Te'o recorded the most tackles (63) by an Irish freshman since 1975.
After Te'o elected to return to Notre Dame, it became clearer to the family that he could do missionary work of a kind simply by comporting himself well as a high-profile college athlete and offering teammates counsel during rough patches in their personal lives.
"Even though we told him we supported him, it weighed on him heavily that somehow he was disappointing us," Brian Te'o said.
"Then as he had all these experiences with his teammates and others were willing to question why he doesn't drink, why he doesn't smoke, he started to find his purpose of why it was important that he stay. With him sharing that with us, we're like, 'OK. I'm beginning to understand your purpose.'"
So, too, does Te'o himself.
"Right now, I'm just focused on football, doing whatever it takes for our team to win, to be a championship caliber football team," Te'o said. "I promise that I'll finish doing my schooling and become the best football player I can be and keep myself spiritually in tune to the Lord. Because if He needs me somewhere, I'm going to go."
For the foreseeable future, Te'o believes he's right where he should be.
For now, Te'o's mission is Irish football - Chicago Tribune
