Te'o Girlfriend a Hoax? Is He Guilty or Just Very Gullible? (Commentary)

Jan 17, 2013 03:22 AM EST

Manti Te'o's story gets weirder by the second. We've all heard about this imaginary Leanny Kekua that he supposedly dated, but later died around the same time as his grandmother Annette Santiago's death back in September. However, when analyzing the situation, can somebody really be that gullible in our day in age or is Te'o covering himself up?

Sorry if I'm being to harsh, but isn't falling in love over the internet a thing of the late 90's early 00's? The Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker claims that he was at the wrong end of a prank. Let's be serious though, knowing all the scams we find on the internet, wouldn't it occur to Te'o that there are multiple ways of double-checking if the person existed?

This would be a good time to call Aaron Rodgers.

Deadspin.com, who first made the story public said there were no records of this Kekua personality anywhere. No records of her attending Stanford University, let alone any social media sites where they could find Te'o's supposed deceased girlfriend.

In fact, the photo found of Kekeu belongs to another 22-year-old young woman who nobody has been able to identify and the press will not release her name.

Can a man living in the 21st century, Te'o is soon turning 22 and just finished his senior year at Notre Dame, be ignorant or gullible enough to just fall for a girl online?


This is my point exactly. Pete Abraham is a Boston Red Sox beat writer. 

I'm not questioning people's ways of falling in love and connecting with others, that's their personal business or, at least, a regular human being's personal business.

Te'o is not a regular human being. He is a high profile college start on his way to the NFL. Young men of his caliber should know that people out there will unnecessarily want to harm them.

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is believed the man to set the hoax up. If he acted alone, this guy is somebody you wouldn't want to have as an enemy because he got Te'o good.

As reported by ESPN, family and friends of Tuiasosopo say he set the hoax up, meanwhile Tuiasosopo claims that Te'o was seeking to reap from the benefits of his made up story.

If Te'o is a part of the hoax then he is very dumb for committing such useless actions. He didn't need anymore attention, his game spoke for him and fans loved him regardless. Now if he's innocent, then he still doesn't look like too bright of a person.

Maybe they should have workshops in colleges warning players of the evils that lie ahead in the real world, just to avoid these things.

Had Te'o used precaution and been a little less trusting, he wouldn't find himself in this mess.

So ladies and gentleman, what is the key to this story?

Don't be gullible over the internet. As resourceful as it can be, a lot of people use the internet to take advantage of many people looking for help.

Te'o is one of the most talented players entering the draft, but until this gets sorted out, chances are that this young man's dreams of playing in the NFL will be in the limbo.

Who would want a liar in their organization? Simultaneously, if he is innocent, who would want such a gullible guy in their locker room?

His talents should speak for themselves, but with such a weird story following Te'o for the rest of his life, it will be interesting to see the remaining truths that come out from this hoax.

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