If there were an award for strangest story of the year, Manti Te'o would win it hands down.
According to Deadspin.com, the inspirational story about Te'o using his girlfriend's death from leukemia as an inspiration was found out to be a hoax. The report says that the girl Te'o claimed was his girlfriend was a made up identity and that the woman, Lennay Kekua, did not exist.
The news broke on Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported that it could find no record of Lennay Kekua existing. Notre Dame issued a news release following the report, saying that "the proper authorities" are investigating a "very cruel deception."
Te'o issued a statement Wednesday afternoon:
"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."
Te'o previously said that his girlfriend had inspired him to play better during the season and he helped the Irish make it to the BCS National Championship game against Alabama.
On Sept. 12, Te'o found out his 72-year-old grandmother Annette Santiago died and said that he was told just six hours later that Kekua had lost her battle with leukemia. After Notre Dame's 20-3 win over Michigan State on Sept. 15, Te'o said:
"My family and my girlfriend's family have received so much love and support from the Notre Dame family. Michigan State fans showed some love. And it goes to show that people understand that football is just a game, and it's a game that we play, and we have fun doing it. But at the end of the day, what matters is the people who are around you, and family. I appreciate all the love and support that everybody's given my family and my girlfriend's family."
He was asked again about his girlfriend on Jan. 3 prior to the BCS title game, saying: "This team is very special to me, and the guys on it have always been there for me, through the good times and the bad times. I rarely have a quiet time to myself because I always have somebody calling me, asking, 'Do you want to go to the movies?' Coach is always calling me asking me, 'Are you OK? Do you need anything?' "
"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," Te'o said in his statement. "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."
The release from Notre Dame said that Te'o informed the school of the hoax in late December and said that he was the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.
The Deadspin report stated that Kekua does not have a death certificate and Stanford, where she reportedly went to school, has no record of anybody by that name. According to ESPN.com, friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a high school classmate of Te'o, told Deadspin they believe he created Kekua.
Tuiasosopo is described in the report as an athlete from a football family who had cousins and relatives play football in college and in the NFL. The Deadspin report claims that Te'o and Tuiasosopo had met before and had communicated on Twitter.
The Deadspin report also stated that a friend of Tuiasosopo was quoted as saying he was "80 percent sure" hat Manti Te'o was "in on it," and that the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua's death with publicity in mind. The report offers a full timeline of tweets and other communications via social media.
According to Deadspin, the only photos that have been found online that identified Kekua are actually pictures of another 22-year-old woman. That woman, not named in the report, told Deadspin one of those photos likely was shared by Tuiasosopo.
She said to the website over the phone: "That picture is a picture of me from my Facebook account."
Te'o has not been out in public much since the national title game and hadn't tweeted since Nov. 6, writing " @LennayKay I miss you!" The hoax has also brought up questions about his future in the NFL.
Te'o's draft stock started to drop even before the news came out about his fake/hoax girlfriend. He was overpowered by Alabama's running backs on the opening drive of the national title game and finished with 10 tackles as the Irish defense was blown out 42-14. The team allowed over 500 total yards and gave up 265 rushing yards on the ground.
Initially looked at as a mid-to-late first round pick by most draft experts like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, now Te'o is being projected as a fourth or fifth round pick. Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick spoke at a press conference on Wednesday and supported Te'o, saying that the school was notified in December about the situation.
According to NBCSports.com, Notre Dame engaged a private company to investigate the situation, with a report provided to the school on January 4. The investigation found, among other things, "online chatter among the perpetrators."
"At the end of the day this is Manti's story to tell, and we believe he has the right to tell it, which we believe he is going to do," Swarbrick said.
The website also wrote: "Swarbrick explained twice that Te'o used the term 'met' to refer to when they first met online, but Swarbrick did not provide a detailed explanation regarding the seemingly critical question of whether Te'o ever said or claimed that they actually physically spent time together."
"I want to stress . . . that nothing about what i have learned has shaken my faith in Manti Te'o one iota," Swarbrick said.
Te'o will address the media on Thursday to speak about the highly unusual situation.