NOTRE DAME'S FAKE GIRLFRIEND

I'm sure by now; many of you have seen this story or have heard about it on some level. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it turns out; Heisman Trophy candidate and Notre Dame's superstar linebacker, Manti Te'o, had been duped into thinking that he had a girlfriend who recently died. Did that statement even remotely sound like it made any sense? Okay, let's see if we can make some sense out of this. So, from the beginning, Notre Dame's college football team had a magical season, which ended with last Monday night's BCS title game blowout loss to Alabama. One of the keys to their success was their superstar linebacker Manti Te'o, who publicly drew inspiration from the death of his grandmother, Annette Santiago, and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, who allegedly died of leukemia a few hours after. Well, the truth came out yesterday that only half of the deaths were true! That's right! The grandmother did pass, but as for the girlfriend, she never existed! You read correctly! Lennay Kekua was a made up girl that was allegedly perpetuated by a former California high school quarterback and family friend of Te'o, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. 

According to friends and relatives of Tuiasosopo, he was the man behind Lennay maintaining her identity through a Twitter account. But was Manti Te'o in on the hoax? Did he make this story up to get sympathy from the press as Notre Dame gained momentum into their title match? According to Te'o and the school's athletic director, he had no idea that it was a hoax and that he'd developed an emotional relationship with a woman he met online and that he was the victim of 'someone's sick joke and constant lies.' I say blame your old family buddy, Tuiasosopo! The school's AD said that he believes Te'o because his statements about the incident have been consistent. The hoax was so good that even Te'o's father, Brian, told the South Bend Tribune that the pair had even met in person in November 2009, after Stanford, where Kekua was allegedly enrolled, beat the fighting Irish. How? Who is lying here? Here's what I don't understand; How can someone have a relationship with someone they've never met or spoken to? There's no way that a man and a woman can have a healthy relationship by just Tweeting or emailing each other. If their relationship was a long distance one, there is such a thing as Skype now to have video calls to each other. Also, if the couple did meet in 2009, who the hell did Te'o meet if this woman is a fake?

 If Te'o was not in on it, that boy was fooled big time! He recently described in rich detail to Sports Illustrated how Kekua died of leukemia the same day as his 72-year-old grandmother, and how he used it as inspiration to lead the Irish to a 20-3 victory over Michigan State on September 15. On the day that Kekua was supposedly buried, Te'o, instead of going to the funeral, had two interceptions against Michigan and after the game said, "All she wanted was some white roses. So, I sent her roses and sent her two interceptions along with that." 

Here's where the problems lie; there is no record of a death of Lennay Kekua, nor is there a report of her birth, her life, or a severe auto accident involving Lennay or any records in the Stanford registrar's office that anyone by that name ever matriculated or graduated. The photos of Kekua are also social media photos of a 22-year-old California woman, who never met Te'o. Apparently, the star linebacker learned the harsh truth about his alleged girlfriend at the ESPN awards when he received a phone call from a number he associated with Kekua, and the voice at the other end told him she was not dead and that she was indeed not real. 

There are so many questions that need to be answered! Who was Te'o speaking to on the phone at night if this girl did not exist? How did his teammates not meet a girl that he supposedly dated for 3 years? How did he not meet the girl that he dated for 3 years? The father says they met, but how? Was he really being fooled or did he play a part in this elaborate hoax to gain national attention from the media and Heisman voters. If Te'o didn't know about this hoax, he can easily go down as one of the dumbest people we will ever read about. That is why I think he was in on the hoax and it will come out, which could possibly ruin his career....Or will it? His stats still speak volumes. I guess we'll just have to sit back and see!