Manti T'eo, what's up with that??

Hilarious shirt on Barstool Sports

Hello everybody,

Unfortunately I’m still feeling a little sick today, so I’m home from school again. I’m not complaining though, because I get to sit at home and watch Sports Center, First Take and read all these articles and Tweets about Manti T’eo and this unbelievable story that deadspin.com broke yesterday. For those of you who haven’t heard about it, read this article: http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax

This story just completely blows my mind. Manti T’eo was probably my favorite player in college football this year. I remember when I heard that he lost both his grandmother and his girlfriend in the course of a day, then 3 days later proceeded to lead Notre Dame with 12 tackles over Michigan State. It was almost surreal, how someone could lose so much in such a short period of time and then go out and play an unbelievable football game. His popularity after that skyrocketed. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, all over the news, and it seemed like from that point on he was arguably the most popular college football player in the country. Every time I watched Notre Dame, it seemed there was always a camera on Manti T’eo. Honestly, I was rooting for him to get Heisman. I was inspired by his toughness, intensity, character, faith, and his pure football instincts. When I first heard this story, it was like…huh? I read the deadspin article and I was just so confused. I had to read it again, and again, and watch Sports Center a couple times before coming to an opinion about the situation.

I do think there’s something more to this story than just a “Catfish” situation where he got fooled  into believing someone online was a real person. In my opinion, T’eo was involved with this hoax for his own publicity. I don’t think he did this alone, I think his family helped him in this whole thing. His father is quoted in saying that he met this girl when Manti came home for breaks.  It’s just weird to me, I don’t think Manti is that gullible to get that attached to someone who he met online. He said in an interview he loved her, cared for her deeply, and called her the most beautiful girl he ever met. I understand people get in “relationships” online all the time. I just can’t believe that through all the complications; the leukemia, the treatments she underwent, the car accident she got into, her death and funeral, that he didn’t visit her at all. I just can’t believe T’eo on this one. And it honestly kills me, because I actually like T’eo. But if you connect the dots, you can come to a conclusion that he was somehow involved in  a scheme to promote his own image. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, I don’t think he’s a scumbag or anything like that. If you look at all the evidence presented to us at this time, I just don’t think it’s a “Catfish” type situation, as T’eo and the Notre Dame Athletic Director said it was. In my opinion, Manti T’eo was somehow involved in this for his own image.

This story is just so absurd on so many levels, so I knew I had to write about it. This is just my opinion right now, and as more facts come out maybe my opinion will change. Whatever comes out one thing is for sure, this is one of the most bizarre stories I’ve ever seen. Things happen online with these “Catfish” situations and people making fake accounts online, but nothing of this magnitude with as big of an icon as Manti T’eo involved.

Whatever happens, I just feel bad for the guy. I think he will be a pretty good linebacker in the NFL, wherever he may land. I also think he really is a genuine good guy who should be a role model for young people who play the game of football. He plays football with a certain tenacity, passion and intensity. While also playing a clean and fair game, the way football is meant to be played. In the national championship game against Alabama (Roll Tide!) he was a no show from the get-go. It’s clear he was affected by the investigation of the situation. Also adding to the fact, Alabama was clearly the superior football team in every single way and dominated every facet of the game.

A big question now is whether his draft stock will take a hit because of these circumstances. At this time, you can’t really say what impact it will have. As more and more things come out, maybe it will or won’t affect his draft position. NFL teams want to make sure that if they draft a player that they’re not leaving any stone unturned in terms of character, physical skills and emotional make up of a person. If it comes out that he was somehow involved in this for his own publicity, then it most certainly will hurt him. If it’s discovered that he was just a victim of a huge hoax, then it really shouldn’t hurt him. More and more will come out about this situation, and it should be very interesting to see how it affects Manti T’eo going forward.