Another day, another strange development in the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax story.
According to ESPN.com, a woman spoke anonymously to a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, the friend told Outside the Lines Thursday.
"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. In the interview, she did allow for her voice to be recorded."
The woman in her mid-20s spoke to Shelly Smith and said that Tuiasosopo started the hoax as a game, but it quickly spiraled into something more.
"He (Ronaiah) told me that Manti was not involved at all, he was a victim. ... The girlfriend was a lie, the accident was a lie, the leukemia was a lie," said the woman. "He was crying, he was literally crying, he's like 'I know, I know what I have to do.'
She also said that this was not the first time Tuiasosopo had done something like this.
"It's not only Manti, but he was telling me that it's a lot of other people they had done this to," she said.
Notre Dame has supported Te'o, with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick saying at a news conference that he was a victim of a hoax. Swarbrick said that the relationship took place online and over the phone.
"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.
The story has taken some interesting turns, with Notre Dame players saying that Te'o knew the situation and used it to get attention. According to ESPN and the Smith report, Outside the Lines spoke to people who had the same hoax pulled on a family member.
Smith writes that: "J.R. Vaosa, 28, of Torrance, Calif., and Celeste Tuioti-Mariner, 21, of Whittier, said that in 2008 their cousin began an online romance with a woman who portrayed herself as a model. Vaosa said the cousin showed Vaosa a picture on MySpace of a woman from a Victoria's Secret catalog that he said was Kekua. Vaosa said that the online Kekua would agree to meet his cousin at certain places. Vaosa said he went with the cousin to meet her."
"When Lennay said she was gonna be at this park one day, we'd go to the park and Ronaiah pops up and then we go to the gym in Orange County where the kids have volleyball tournaments, Ronaiah's there," Vaosa said.
When the story came about Te'o originally, the cousins of Tuiasosopo realized what was going on.
"When I found out about the Samoan football player (and) his girlfriend, his Grandma died the same day, I was like, 'Whoa this is crazy,' I feel so bad for him, so I just looked him up," Vaosa said. "I found out his girlfriend's name was Lennay Kekua. And right when I read the name Lennay Kekua, I immediately thought of Ronaiah. Then I thought of my cousin -- that this has to be the same person."
The story all began with a Deadspin report detailing that 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.
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."
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.
Te'o made many statements after the date he said he was informed of the hoax about his girlfriend, bringing in to question what exactly he knew and when.
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.
