Heisman Hopeful Manti Te’o and His Dead Girlfriend Hoax

READ: Manti Te’o Tells Katie Couric: “I Lied to Keep the Hoax Going”

This past season Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o played with an extreme burden on his shoulders.  The Heisman hopeful not only had the weight of the Notre Dame defense on his shoulders, but the fate of the Fighting Irish’s national title berth as well.  Off the field Te’o was stricken with the personal tragedies of losing his grandmother and girlfriend within just a matter of hours.

Well, that’s what Manti Te’o led us to believe.

According to an article released by Deadspin.com today, the death of Manti Te’o’s girlfriend never occurred.  How is that?  Because she NEVER existed.

The media flocked to the inspirational story last September when it was reported that Te’o had lost both his grandmother, Annette Santiago, and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, within a matter of six hours.  Upon receiving the news Te’o would lead his team to a 20-3 upset against Michigan State while racking up 12 tackles.  This is when questions began to be asked if he was a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.

While the death of his grandmother is absolutely horrific, using the media to conjure up a story of a second death regarding a fake girlfriend is simply disgusting.  We were led to believe that Te’o was comforting his girlfriend that was battling leukemia by calling her at the hospital and spending the entire night with her on the phone.

Sports Illustrated Peter Thamel reported at the time, “Her relatives told him that at her lowest points, as she fought to emerge from a coma, her breathing rate would increase at the sound of his voice.”

Now the truth is coming out.  According to the Social Security Administration, Manti Te’o’s grandmother, Annette Santiago, did pass away on  Sept. 11, 2012 at the age of 72.  However, there are no Social Security Administration records on the death of Lennay Marie Kekua, let alone any written obituaries, funeral announcements, college registration records, or even a birth certificate for that matter.

The woman we were led to believe was Manti Te’o’s girlfriend is actually a 22-year-old woman from California who is alive and well.

The photos that were previously reported to be Lennay Marie Kekua are actually of a 22-year-old California women who has never met Manti Te’o, been in a car accident, or has leukemia.  If it were not for a few social media accounts, any knowledge of a woman named Lennay Marie Kekua would’ve ever existed.

Deadspin.com reported:

“We spoke with friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who asserted that Ronaiah was the man behind Lennay. He created Lennay in 2008, one source said, and Te’o wasn’t the first person to have an online ‘relationship’ with her. One mark – who had been ‘introduced’ to Lennay by Tuiasosopo – lasted about a month before family members grew suspicious that Lennay could never be found on the telephone, and that wherever one expected Lennay to be, Ronaiah was there instead. Two sources discounted Ronaiah’s stunt as a prank that only metastasized because of Te’o’s rise to national celebrity this past season.”

Notre Dame University Spokesperson Dennis Brown released a statement this afternoon saying:

“On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators.”

Manti Te’o’s statement:

This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating. It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother’s death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life. I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been. In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I’m looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft.

What are your thoughts on Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o and the ensuing scandal?  Is his legacy in jeopardy?