Well this isn't a shocker, or is it? Manti Te'o admitted to knowing his fake girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, was still alive despite going on interviews and reaffirming her death. Te'o is guilty of perpetuating the lie.
On Dec. 6, Te'o received a phone call saying she was alive. This came just days before his appearance before national television as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker was nomiated for the Heisman Trophy award.
He was asked about Kekua, and even though knowing the truth about her being alive, Te'o decided to continue the lie instead of mentioning she had somehow reincarnated.
Can you blame him for continuing the lie?
It must be very tough to share such a tough moment, especially a perplexing moment, of your personal life over interview. It is almost to shocking to just mention in an interview. This is material that deserves at least a press conference.
In an interview with Katie Couric, Te'o shared his thoughts, "Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12. Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?"
{CLICK HERE TO WATCH INTERVIEW}
Well, for starters, Te'o, you go to a very powerful college, why not have somebody start an investigation for you?
Many believe he was way more involved in the lie in hopes of creating a human interest story which would have catapulted him to the top of the Heisman Trophy race. That theory still doesn't make too much sense, but then again, neither does the Te'o hoax story.
Analysts around the NFL do believe that this chapter in Te'o's life will affect where he gets picked in the draft. His personal shouldn't matter because he's a beast on the field, but if Te'o makes mistakes like this just as a college player, imagine all the things life will throw his way when he is in the pros?
His father may have said it perfectly, "People can speculate about what they think he is. I've known him 21 years of his life. And he's not a liar. He's a kid."
A kid NFL teams may not want to deal with if it attracts this much attention away from what he does on the field.
