What's the point of not allowing cameras? To keep people from seeing his body language?

And he didn't let them video it.

The whole thing is beginning to sound like a made-for-TV movie.

Te'o said he wasn't involved. Shouldn't we take his word? :D

"You have to believe me but by the way he laid this out" WHY NOT VIDEO IT?

Tui called him two days ago saying it was him

So he already admits to lying about parts of the enounter with his fake girlfriend.

FRAUD.

How much $ is his buddy taking to be a patsy? I'm betting a quarter mil.

ESPN is a load of fail. Schapp is a terrible "journalist."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...ate-girlfriend

Manti Te'o denies being part of hoax

Manti Te'o denied being part of a hoax involving a relationship with a person online whom he considered his girlfriend, during an interview with ESPN on Friday night.

"No. Never," Te'o said in a 2½-hour interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap.

"I wasn't faking it," he said. "I wasn't part of this."

The Notre Dame linebacker said he did not make up anything to help his Heisman Trophy candidacy.

"When (people) hear the facts, they'll know," he said. "They'll know that there is no way that I could be part of this."

Wednesday, Deadspin.com posted a story detailing an online relationship Te'o thought he had with "Lennay Kekua," which he says he learned was a hoax. Te'o spoke at the IMG Training Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where he is preparing for the NFL draft. There were no cameras at the interview, which was recorded.

In the interview, Te'o also said that:

• He lied to his father about having met Kekua, prompting his father to tell reporters that the two had met. Several media stories indicated that he and Kekua had met. Te'o insisted they never did.

• He tried to speak with Kekua via Skype and FaceTime on several occasions, but the person at the other end of the line was in what he called a "black box" and wasn't seen.

• The first time he met Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was after Notre Dame beat USC on Nov. 24. Tuiasosopo is the man Deadspin and others have said was behind the hoax. Earlier Friday, ESPN's "Outside The Lines" reported that Tuiasosopo called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping Te'o. The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated.

Te'o spoke of Kekua as his girlfriend several times after Dec. 6. One was at the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York on Dec. 8 to ESPN's Chris Fowler. Another was on ESPN Radio the same day. There were two other times, including a column in the Los Angeles Times on Dec. 10. He was also asked about it at a Jan. 3 news conference prior to the BCS title game but did not refer to his "girlfriend" directly.

At least. He better be able to nail his interviews at the Combine. Otherwise, it's money not well spent. And he's gonna get grilled hard in each interview he has.

ESPN is desperate to get ahead in this story... they hate the fact Deadspin beat them to it.

I do think if they can make Deadspin look bad, they will definitely do it.

Why didn't ESPN play any of the audio from the interview?

Well, lets hear them, from you. Not from a reporter summarizing an interview for ratings.

Something struck a chord with me today. They were talking about how Armstrong didn't show enough contrition during his apology.

How can you excoriate someone for lying then complain because he doesn't come off as a prostrate bucket of tears in an interview? In essence, ESPN complained because Armstrong didn't lie in the way his audience wanted him to lie, which is what this is all really about. Most people actively seek out fiction displayed to them in palatable way because they desire to live in an ignorant cocoon.

So basically ESPN spent the past 2 hours scrolling "BREAKING NEWS" regarding this interview with Schaap and Te'o during the Thunder-Mavs game (which was a great game by the way) only to reveal that the "Breaking News" is that Te'o says he had no part in the hoax.

Breaking News Fail.

Schaap sounded like a PR rep for Te'o. The report was a joke.

I think they probably got the ratings they wanted. This was a constructed PR move by the Teo camp. Anyone with a brain can see it.

LMAO

He didn't truly "believe" it until two days ago?

"You'll just have to believe me, but the way he told his side of the story has me convinced" Schaap

All of this is just a prime example of how terrible journalism is now. This is the same thing as a doctor removing the wrong testicle because he didn't read the chart. With twitter, a faster paced Facebook, ruling the world and everyone wanting their news NOW it was bound to come to this. Nobody does their research anymore. Everyone trusts their sources too much and low and behold, it bites them. And now the whole mass media world of today makes their elders that have come before them point and laugh in embarrassment.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/19/9eju5ane.jpg


Leaked photos of Manti's gf

Now, Te'o claims he wasn't fully convinced Lennay did not exist until two days ago - Otherwise known as the "Too Stupid" defense straight out of the CAA Training Academy.

Shaap said, "Te'o wanted to do this (interviewe) in an intimate setting" - With his lawyer by his side? LMAO

So wait a minute, he had a girlfriend after this girl "died"? What?

At this point I'm just throwing my hands in the air.

Yep. ESPN is just protecting their interests. Note that they have the broadcast rights to a shit ton of high profile Bowl games.

Heh, her cousins sisters brothers niece.

He litterally has ESPN doing the spin job for him.

Watch this shit ROFL

http://m.funnyordie.com/videos/d41a2...eatured_videos

LMAO

They switch to Armstrong and the lead in quote is "Is he telling a lie after admitting lying?

There you go...

LOL


Check this one out:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yJIvZpjHzuA?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

He's gonna commit suicide.


This has to be one of the strangest stories I've witnessed in years.

ROFLROFLROFLROFL

God Damnit that is funny. ROFL ROFL ROFL

http://25.media.tumblr.com/af0ce5a6e...b9u6o1_500.jpg

Te'o chilling with his dog in Florida



This guy would be perfect for the Jets to draft.

Everything in my soul says this guy is lying out his ass:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,2304112.story


By Brian Hamilton Tribune reporter

12:35 a.m. CST, January 19, 2013

Manti Te'o broke his silence late Friday and denied any involvement in the dead girlfriend hoax that has consumed the former Notre Dame All-American for days, while saying the man behind the ruse apologized two days ago via social media.

"I wasn't faking it," Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap in an off-camera interview. "I wasn't part of this."

A 22-year-old named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo allegedly preyed upon Te'o in creating a bogus woman named Lennay Kekua who began an online- and telephone-only relationship with Te'o, Notre Dame's bellwether linebacker, only to die in September of leukemia and create a personal back story that propelled Te'o to national renown but ultimately crumbled this week.

Schaap reported after a two and a half hour interview with Te'o that the player wasn't completely sure Kekua did not exist until two days ago -- when Tuiasosopo reached out to Te'o via Twitter to admit he was behind the hoax and apologize for it. Te'o told ESPN that he understood two men and one woman were involved, though he doesn't know the identities of the individuals other than Tuiasosopo.

ESPN asked Te'o what he believed should happen to Tuiasosopo.

"I hope he learns," Te'o said. "I hope he understands what he's done. I don't wish an ill thing to somebody. I just hope he learns. I think embarrassment is big enough."

As for at least one glaring inconsistency -- the story of how Te'o and Kekua met -- the former Irish star admitted to a lie. The relationship, such as it was, began during Te'o's sophomore year at Notre Dame via Facebook, he told ESPN. He attempted to contact Kekua via Skype and Facetime but never saw a face on the other end, Te'o said.

And as for the story of meeting Kekua on the field at Stanford in 2009, a tale retold by his father in October, Te'o said: "I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away."

"I knew that - I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet," Te'o said. "And that alone people find out that this girl who died I was so invested in, and I didn't meet her as well."

Te'o also was asked why he never visited Kekua in the hospital while she battled leukemia.

"It never really crossed my mind," Te'o said. "I don't know. I was in school."

ESPN reported Friday that Tuiasosopo called a friend from church in early December and admitted he duped Te'o, without the Notre Dame linebacker playing a part in the deception. Deadspin.com, which broke the girlfriend hoax story Wednesday, reported that Te'o might have played a role in the fraud.

Te'o denied that he used the situation to enhance his Heisman Trophy candidacy. He finished second in the voting to Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel.

"When (people) hear the facts, they'll know," Te'o told ESPN. "They'll know that there is no way that I could be part of this."

Te'o did say the ordeal weighed on him during Notre Dame's 42-14 loss to Alabama in the BCS title game, in which he played arguably one of the worst games of his career.

Te'o evidently told ESPN that a group of people, including someone claiming to be Kekua, showed up at the Notre Dame team hotel before the game and that Te'o knew they were there because they took photos in the lobby.

"It affected me," Te'o said. "When you're stuck in big game like that... people depend on you. You need to perform."

It never crossed his mind to go and meet the woman he "loved" who was dying in a hospital?

ROFLROFLROFL

ROFL

"It never really crossed my mind," Te'o said. "I don't know. I was in school."

It comes down to this. Either he's the dumbest mother ****er to ever live. Or he was in on it. Either way he he's gonna get drilled in the interviews at the combine.

This. There's really no way out of this.

Nobody is that stupid. He's in on it.

It never crossed his mind? He stayed up with her on the phone for EIGHT hours falling asleep but it never crossed his mind to go visit her?!

All this time to set up this PR stunt and that's the answer he gives Schaap? What a joke this whole thing is. I would love to see ESPN to suffer for this. Too bad they will make money off it instead.

He was to upset to visit her. Besides he had school.

I still think one of the more surprising things is that he has another girlfriend. I wonder if he was still giving interviews about this fake person while he was dating this new girl. That makes the whole thing seem even more shady.

Certainly raises another possibility, maybe he really did think this girl was real but just a fling so he kept it going, using her because he knew it helped his story. Or maybe he is just a pathological liar.

Article posted by Dane.

From Brian Hamilton Chicago Tribune reporter:
LOL. So, he was fine when he played a game the same week that he lost his grandmother and girlfriend on the same day. He was fine when he played a game on the same day of his girlfriend’s funeral. However, a month after receiving a phone call that his girlfriend might be a hoax - it affects his performance?

Poor excuse for getting killed by Alabama in the BCSC title game.

An AP review of news coverage found that Te’o’s interview on Friday night with ESPN left many wondering whether he was one of the participants.

LMAO
TMZ: Rebounded w/ ACTUAL Girl After Fake GF 'Died'

http://ll-media.tmz.com/2013/01/18/0...a-launch-1.jpg

Manti Te'o quietly began dating an actual living, breathing female human being ... shortly after he learned "Lennay Kekua" had died from cancer ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Manti tell us ... the Notre Dame star met Alexandra del Pilar the weekend of November 10 -- when Notre Dame played Boston College.

Alexandra, 21, is a student at St. Mary's College in Indiana -- which is close to Notre Dame.

We're told Alexandra and Manti dated for nearly 2 months, but broke up recently.

There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.

http://ll-media.tmz.com/2013/01/18/0...t-lei-v2-3.jpg


Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2013/01/18/manti-...#ixzz2IPL2NPBm
http://tmzstore.com

And blammo.

Romeo says "BOOM"

He needs to come out of the closet.

Dude is lying his ass off.

Yep here's the token gf now. Holy **** someone tell this dude to just ****ing stop. Tell the world that he likes dudes, and stop all this crap.

Man let this be a lesson kids, Mormons are batshit crazy

Petrino is probably wishing his bitch was fake too

should have kept his mouth shut

has a 'relationship' with a woman for a year and never sees her face, never skypes, and never once feels like visiting her even as she is dying of cancer? but uses 'relationship' to talk publicly about their special love?

lies to his father about her

perpetuates the lie on national tv even after being notified it was a fraud, after she 'returns from the dead' with a story about drug dealers

dates/bangs real women during pretty much all of this

uses hoax to exonerate himself from national embarrassment of title game...classy...after using hoax to raise profile and pimp self for heisman...classy

and we still have only more questions...he is so full of shit that Armstrong is saying 'wow, dude...'

Am I the only person that doesn't give a shit about this? The guy hurt no one. Lance Armstrong is getting off easy because of this nonsense.

Nobody gives a shit about him doping in a bicycle race. This story is more interesting by far.

Manti tao is using cancer as a stepping stone to get attention for himself whereas Armstrong invented the concept of creating a cancer charity that does more for the victims than vague BS research "organizations". People can say whatever they want about Armstrong but he's given back to the community * 10000 where Tao is a petulant child that wants to be an artificial tim tebow.

Jeff Ireland: Was your fake girlfriend a whore?

Te'o: I didn't think of her that way...

Jeff Ireland: Was your fake girlfriend's fake mother a whore?

Te'o: Ronaiah is a whore, you should talk to her...er...him.

He's gay.

Have we found supergayman?

Maybe.

Great piece of writing IMO.
@DanWetzel: My column on Manti Te'o and how this spectacular tale may end with a whimper http://t.co/ofqrh07s

He's wearing a sailor's cap in Indiana and sitting on Santa's lap. He's not gay.

It's gotta be a Santas cap and he is drilling that bitch for corn.

doesn't really make any sense

he told, unprompted, multiple and repeated lies to family, friends, and media...even after 'learning' it was a hoax.....and it's just a case of "a young kid that love turned into a damn fool"?

nah...that's a cop out

ROFL ROFL ROFL

http://i48.tinypic.com/16iu0lk.jpg funny

This.

If anybody actually starts believing that shit, **** them. All you need to know is in the original report. All the other bullshit is noise.

"....I just know the sound it makes when it LIES"

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.49073...89792&pid=15.1

I'm just going to put this here, since I don't think it's a thread worthy discussion.

Sports talk radio over the last week has been dominated by Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o discussion.

Am I the only person in America who doesn't give a rat's ass about either of these subjects?

Meh, the media will move on to something else shortly. I'm sure that's what Te'o's camp is banking on anyway, they're just waiting it out.

Dude should have used a real live beard from the jump.

And then he uses this as an excuse for why he played like shit in the NC game?
What a loser.

Understand your frustration, but they are interesting stories that transcend sports. People like a good story and drama. Its just human nature.