Over the last few days, the legacy of Manti Te'o has drastically changed. Te'o went from being the most beloved Notre Dame Football icon since Lou Holtz, to being a national punchline. This year, Te'o helped spark Notre Dame to a dream regular season that ended abruptly on January 7th. Nearly ten days later, what seemed like just a bad dream for Notre Dame fans has turned in a nightmare. Two days have passed since the news broke that the heartbreaking and inspirational story surrounding Te'o's "girlfriend", Lennay Kekua, was all a giant hoax. During this time, I have tried to wrap my mind around this troubling situation. Before I begin addressing certain angles and questions of this case, let's establish a few facts. Here is what we know. Lennay Kekua was not a real person. This fake persona was created by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo in 2008.
At some point Manti Te'o has lied, but to what extent? If you have not read the article on Deadspin, please do so. The facts surrounding the non-existence of Lennay Kekua can not be disputed. However, exactly who played a role in the hoax is very debatable. Was Manti Te'o in on the whole thing? It is possible. Was Manti Te'o completely duped? Also possible. I do not know whether or not Manti Te'o is innocent or guilty. Neither does anyone else not named Manti Te'o or Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. Let’s let all the facts, angles, and stories surface before we make any snap judgments on people. To help examine this bizarre story, I will attempt to provide potential answers to some of the questions being asked. I am not taking a side, at least not yet. I am merely trying to understand what may have or may not have happened.
First Question: What are we to make of the alleged face to face meetings between Te'o and Kekua? There are only two instances in which Te'o and Kekua allegedly met in person. The first story suggests that Te'o first "met" Kekua on November 28, 2009 after the Notre Dame vs. Stanford game in Palo Alto, California. Manti has always said he "met" Kekua after the game, but has been vague about it ever since her alleged death. Brian Te'o, Manti's father, told the South Bend Tribune in an interview this Fall that the two met in the parking lot after the game and sparked a friendship. Obviously, this is not true since Notre Dame and Manti have since stated they never met in person. Those statements also squash the theory that Manti had actually met a woman in person that falsely claimed she was Lennay Kekua that night in California. The case against Manti Te'o would argue that Te'o lied about meeting Kekua because Te'o was in on the hoax and felt this was an ideal place to start a fake relationship with Kekua being a supposed Stanford student. The case for Manti Te'o could suggest two things. First, Te'o was "introduced" to Kekua either via telephone or Internet by one of the perpetrators, possibly Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, and that is how their friendship began. Secondly, Te'o had established a more emotional "online relationship" with Kekua at a later date. Fearing his solely online relationship would be questioned, Te'o created the story of meeting Kekua in-person after the Stanford game to embellish his relationship with Kekua so that it would appear to be more than just an online relationship. The second story involves both Manti and Brian Te'o stating that Lennay Kekua visited Manti in Hawaii a couple of times. I say visiting Manti because contrary to public belief, Kekua never "met" Te'o's parents. People automatically assumed that since Kekua "visited" Hawaii, she must have met Te'o's family. The fact is, Brian Te'o told the South Bend Tribune after Kekua "died" that Lennay was suppose to visit Notre Dame for the first time in late November for Manti's Senior Day game vs. Wake Forest. Brian mentioned that he and his family were looking forward to meeting Lennay, because they thought she could be their future daughter in law. As Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick mentioned, Te'o and Kekua planned to meet up in Hawaii on a few occasions. Obviously, Kekua never showed up. The case against Te'o would claim he lied about these meetings because he was behind the hoax the whole time. The case for Te'o would argue that Te'o believed Kekua was going to visit him in Hawaii. When she never showed up, Te'o lied by claiming she did to avoid being embarrassed and having his relationship questioned. Either way, for or against, can explain why Kekua never met Te'o's family.
Second Question: What exactly is the relationship between Manti Te'o and Ronaiah Tuiasosopo? This is probably the most complicated and important aspect to discovering the entire truth of the hoax. The article on Deadspin goes into great detail on who Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is, who his family is, and what role he played in the hoax. I will not argue or reiterate that information. However, the details of the Te'o and Tuiasosopo relationship are extremely foggy. Deadspin goes onto explain that the Te'o and Tuiasosopo families are familiar with each other. Deadspin also states that Te'o and Tuiasosopo have had a few conversations on Twitter. Anyone that is familiar with how Twitter works understands that anyone can have a conversation with a celebrity like Te'o if he obliges. So take that information with a grain a salt. A few twitter messages back and forth doesn't mean that the two were great friends. At the very least, the two are acquaintances. They may be closer friends, or they may not. We don't have enough information to make that assumption. I think Deadspin made a mistake by leaving people to believe their friendship was greater than it may be. By doing this, people are also believing an unnamed friend of Tuiasosopo that claims to believe he was 80% sure Manti was involved. This may be true, but I think Deadspin failed by concluding Manti was involved based on a small amount of questionable evidence. If Tuiasosopo acted without Manti Te'o's involvement it is hard to know what the motive would be. It could have been for money, an attempt to taint Manti's image, or it could have been just for fun. Nobody knows right now. One final note that I would like to mention is that Tuiasosopo has been rumored to have tried this exact hoax on a few others, most notably a family member.
Third Question: Why didn't Te'o try to visit Kekua while she was in the hospital or go to her "funeral"? The story suggests that Lennay Kekua was involved in a car accident in April of 2012, badly injured and in a coma for nearly two months. Kekua awoke from the coma in June and was getting better. Before being released from the hospital in June, Kekua was diagnosed with Leukemia. Kekua later died six hours after Te'o's grandmother passed away in September. If you believe Te'o was in on the hoax from the beginning, there is no reason to explain why he didn't visit. If Te'o was duped by this hoax, then he still has some explaining to do. With Kekua living in California and Te'o spending his time in either Hawaii or South Bend during the Summer and Fall months, it would not be easy for him to visit frequently while Lennay was in the hospital. She may have asked him not to come visit, but if Te'o loved her as he said he did, it is hard to believe he could not find a way to visit for a couple of days. As far as not attending the funeral, Te'o claimed she made him promise not to miss a game if anything happened to her. This certainly doesn't make missing a "loved" ones funeral seem right, but it does provide a reason as to why he wouldn't. If Te'o loved her, he may have felt more obligated to honor Kekua by playing in the Michigan game rather than attending the funeral. My biggest issue with this question is this: Why is Te'o not visiting Kekua now an issue? Anyone that was familiar with the situation after Kekua "died" knew that Te'o didn't visit her, knew that Te'o didn't attend the "funeral", and knew Te'o and Kekua's relationship was long-distance. But, that was not a problem in September. No, in fact Te'o was praised for being able to play with this "tragedy". If Te'o not visiting Kekua and not attending the "funeral" wasn't an issue then, it certainly shouldn't be now.
Fourth Question: Why did Te'o and Notre Dame wait to release information? Notre Dame and Manti Te'o claim that Te'o received a phone call on December 6th. The phone number and voice were both what Manti had believed to be Lennay's. Te'o was unsure if someone was playing a prank on him by pretending to be his dead girlfriend. Te'o continued to get calls from this person for 10 days and determined that the person calling him now was the same person playing the part of Kekua. It was at this time, around December 16th, that Te'o was convinced he had been played. Wanting to wait to talk to his parents first, Te'o decided to wait until he was home in Hawaii for Christmas. Te'o told his parents on Dec 26th, and then proceeded to call Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, Head Coach Brian Kelly, and Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco and explain that he was hoaxed. Te'o met with Swarbrick the following day to discuss the situation more in-depth. Notre Dame officials discussed releasing the story, but decided to hire a private investigator to help discover the truth before making any announcement. Notre Dame received the results on the investigation on January 4th, and discussed them with the Te'o's the following day. Before the Deadspin story broke on January 16th, Te'o was reportedly going to make an announcement on January 21st to break the story. Regardless if Te'o is found to be behind the hoax or a victim, this was Notre Dame and Te'o's biggest mistake. I understand and agree with Te'o wanting to speak with his parents first. I also can understand wanting to have the private investigators discover the truth first, but at the very least a statement should have been released when Notre Dame found out. Notre Dame should have not let the story of Kekua's death be played several times a day in the week leading up to the BCS National Championship. By choosing to allow the story to continue, Notre Dame and Manti Te'o lied by omission. Regardless of what happens, that will never change. At the very least, Notre Dame and Te'o's image has been bruised. For Notre Dame and Manti Te'o's sake, I hope they are telling the truth. If either one of them knew about the hoax any time before December 6th, most notably before or when Kekua "died", then Notre Dame and Te'o's image will be scared forever.
New Information: Ever since the Deadspin article broke on Wednesday afternoon, several related stories have surfaced. Arizona Cardinal Fullback Reagan Mauia released this head scratcher. Could he also be in on the hoax? Is he sticking up for Te'o? Or did Tuiasosopo have a woman pretend to be Lennay Kekua at this party to help build up his fake persona? Then there is this. A series of tweets indicating that two people knew about Lennay Kekua being fake. These same two people appear to be the same two people that ESPN's Shelley Smith interviewed on Friday during an episode of ESPN's Outside the Lines. The two claim their cousin was a victim of this same hoax by Tuiasosopo back in 2008-2009. On Friday, this story also broke along with the OTL video. An alleged confession by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo to a friend stating he created the hoax, and that Te’o was not involved. Needless to say, this story is far from over. More information is likely to come.
Final Thoughts: This is the most bizarre sports related story that I have ever witnessed in my life. And, it appears that it will continue to get stranger. I hope people can wait for the whole story to surface before they make any more judgments. Unfortunately for Te'o, he is already guilty in the court of public opinion. He may never be seen as innocent again. For Notre Dame's sake, they better hope Te'o told them the truth. I believe that AD Jack Swarbrick believed Manti Te'o when they met on December 27th. That is why Jack Swarbrick stuck his neck out on the line for Te'o. If Te'o lied to Swarbrick, he and a cast of other Notre Dame officials may soon be jobless. I can see this story playing out three different ways. One, Te'o was complicit with Tuiasosopo in creating the hoax. This is the worst case scenario. Te'o's legacy would forever be tainted, and Notre Dame's image would be severely damaged. Two, Te'o was completely duped and did not know it was a hoax until he received that phone call on December 6th. This is the best case scenario. Te'o's image would still be damaged for lying by omission from December 6th until now. However, Te'o would likely be forgiven over time. Three, at some point after Kekua "died" and before December 6th, Te'o found out Lennay did not exist. Instead of coming clean, Te'o continued to lie and embellish the truth by going along with the story due to embarrassment, confusion, or fear of people finding out. Either way Manti Te'o has lied at some point during this hoax. Depending on what happens next, Te'o will either be able to restore his reputation, image, and legacy, or it will forever be tainted. What a story. What a mess. What a shame.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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