Brother Teo Story - Plausible?

[Bob Oliverio]

Going from the days of "pen pals" to our current world of online communications, is it plausible that one could fall in love, be in love, or be so emotionally distraught by the death of a boy/girl friend without ever having actually meeting the person over a three-four year period?

I became such a follower of Notre Dame football this year entirely because of brother Teo's emotional story he told and his outstanding performance during the season.  The irony of a Mormon playing at "The Catholic" school and the positive national attention it brought.

While the entire story will undoubtedly be told and unwind over the next several weeks, I am, admittedly very disturbed by what has been reported.  Is it really plausible that for all these years, for all the travel from Indiana to Hawaii, for all the impact she had on his life - they never actually met?!?!?! And what about all of his past statements?

So many questions right now. Does anybody here see the lack of plausibility/credibility in the statement issued by brother Teo yesterday and in the story/claim itself? He has had such a storybook year and his performance on the field speaks for itself.  I just hope this doesn't become another Lance Armstrong spectacle.  I just can't come up with a reason why Manti would need such a fabrication - but I just can't find any plausibility to his explanation of a hoax.

[ControlFreak]

Going from the days of "pen pals" to our current world of online communications, is it plausible that one could fall in love, be in love, or be so emotionally distraught by the death of a boy/girl friend without ever having actually meeting the person over a three-four year period?

I became such a follower of Notre Dame football this year entirely because of brother Teo's emotional story he told and his outstanding performance during the season. The irony of a Mormon playing at "The Catholic" school and the positive national attention it brought.

While the entire story will undoubtedly be told and unwind over the next several weeks, I am, admittedly very disturbed by what has been reported. Is it really plausible that for all these years, for all the travel from Indiana to Hawaii, for all the impact she had on his life - they never actually met?!?!?! And what about all of his past statements?

So many questions right now. Does anybody here see the lack of plausibility/credibility in the statement issued by brother Teo yesterday and in the story/claim itself? He has had such a storybook year and his performance on the field speaks for itself. I just hope this doesn't become another Lance Armstrong spectacle. I just can't come up with a reason why Manti would need such a fabrication - but I just can't find any plausibility to his explanation of a hoax.

No way. I don't buy it. He's either incredibly stupid or a good liar. Good liar makes more sense.

I have a theory as to his motives:

Bro. Teo is gay.

His TBM parents obviously strongly disapprove of a boyfriend.

He has his boyfriend create a girlfriend persona to cover why he's spending so much time on the phone/visiting/whatever.

After using the cover up story for years, he suddenly becomes famous for his football skills.

He has to kill fake girlfriend lest the media find out that she can't give any comments, because she's fake. This has the side benefit of garnering sympathy.

Unfortunately, the gig is up.

Alternatively, he could have dreamed her up strictly for the media attention, but that seems to require too much scheming and foresight.

[Bob Oliverio]

No way. I don't buy it. He's either incredibly stupid or a good liar. Good liar makes more sense.

I have a theory as to his motives:

Bro. Teo is gay.

His TBM parents obviously strongly disapprove of a boyfriend.

He has his boyfriend create a girlfriend persona to cover why he's spending so much time on the phone/visiting/whatever.

After using the cover up story for years, he suddenly becomes famous for his football skills.

He has to kill fake girlfriend lest the media find out that she can't give any comments, because she's fake. This has the side benefit of garnering sympathy

Unfortunately, the gig is up.

Alternatively, he could have dreamed her up strictly for the media attention, but that seems to require too much scheming and foresight.

Call me naive but I would have never come to that conclusion. However, I have to say it would be infinitely more plausible than his explanation from yesterday and, if true, one that would leave him w more respect than a fabrication for self promotion.

[DavidB]

in as much as it was a hoax by someone else, yes, the evidence points to that.

in as much as Manti claimed to have met the individual, no, the evidence does not point to that.

[ControlFreak]

in as much as it was a hoax by someone else, yes, the evidence points to that.

in as much as Manti claimed to have met the individual, no, the evidence does not point to that.

No evidence, but common sense just makes it tough to buy that he "knew" the girl enough to call her a girlfriend for an extended period of time (years?) yet never discovered the sham. Not impossible, obviously, just tough to believe.

[Bart Burk]

My disclaimer is that I work at Notre Dame. Notre Dame says they have had private investigators look into this and Notre Dame is taking Te'o's side that he was hoaxed by somebody. My guess he was hoaxed. If he lied about anything it was to cover up the embarrassment he had by being hoaxed. I don't know why anyone would come to the conclusion he is gay based on what we know. I read an article today written by a Notre Dame student saying that he was involved with several girls on campus over the years as well. Eventually, the story will all come out, but the insinuation he is gay has no basis in fact.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Bart Burk

[Bob Oliverio]

Bart Burk,

Do you have any insight to why the investigation details are not being released by Notre Dame?  I thought I heard today on ESPN that the report will not be made public.  Seems to me it would be the fastest way to clear up this whole story.

Also, what is being said on campus as to Bro. Teo prior statements that they "met" at Stanford?  He is a young man and it's not impossible that he was duped, but, as he stated previously: "they met at Stanford" after a game a few years ago.  How does he now reconcile his explanation of yesterday to his past public statements?

I just hope all this won't destroy his future.

[rongo]

My disclaimer is that I work at Notre Dame. Notre Dame says they have had private investigators look into this and Notre Dame is taking Te'o's side that he was hoaxed by somebody. My guess he was hoaxed. If he lied about anything it was to cover up the embarrassment he had by being hoaxed.

That's the thing, though.

Worst case scenario: Te'o participated in the hoax out of publicity and psychological motives (sort of like Paul H. Dunn's stories).

Best case scenario: Te'o was innocently hoaxed all those years. His basic intelligence takes a major hit in this scenario, even if it is the better of the two.

This whole thing is lose-lose.

[ERayR]

No way. I don't buy it. He's either incredibly stupid or a good liar. Good liar makes more sense.

I have a theory as to his motives:

Bro. Teo is gay.

His TBM parents obviously strongly disapprove of a boyfriend.

He has his boyfriend create a girlfriend persona to cover why he's spending so much time on the phone/visiting/whatever.

After using the cover up story for years, he suddenly becomes famous for his football skills.

He has to kill fake girlfriend lest the media find out that she can't give any comments, because she's fake. This has the side benefit of garnering sympathy.

Unfortunately, the gig is up.

Alternatively, he could have dreamed her up strictly for the media attention, but that seems to require too much scheming and foresight.

On what credible evidence is this scenario based? My guess it is that all your evidence is a figment of your imagination.

[Bart Burk]

Bart Burk,

Do you have any insight to why the investigation details are not being released by Notre Dame? I thought I heard today on ESPN that the report will not be made public. Seems to me it would be the fastest way to clear up this whole story.

Also, what is being said on campus as to Bro. Teo prior statements that they "met" at Stanford? He is a young man and it's not impossible that he was duped, but, as he stated previously: "they met at Stanford" after a game a few years ago. How does he now reconcile his explanation of yesterday to his past public statements?

I just hope all this won't destroy his future.

I don't think they could release it without Teo's permission.

Here's another article from an ND student:

http://collegespun.com/big-east/notre-dame/a-notre-dame-students-take-on-manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-hoax#.UPhSbR27PoL

Edited January 17, 2013 by Bart Burk

[ControlFreak]

No evidence. I logically see three options:

1. He's very gullible

2. He's a media whore

3. It was a gay cover up.

Purely speculating here, and I tried to use words to that effect. But at any rate, in my opinion, option 3 was the least insulting.

[Bart Burk]

No evidence. I logically see three options:

1. He's very gullible

2. He's a media whore

3. It was a gay cover up.

Purely speculating here, and I tried to use words to that effect. But at any rate, in my opinion, option 3 was the least insulting.

It's more likely he was a 22 year old guy that became infatuated with someone he thought was a beautiful young woman. People lose their heads over love all the time.

[bluebell]

If you really wonder whether or not people routinely fall in love with people they have never met, just catch the show 'catfish' on Mtv.

It's a reality show where a guy and a friend (who was duped into a romance with someone who essentially didn't exist) now goes out and tries to help other people who are in internet relationships and have doubts about what their significant other is saying but don't want to give up on them because of 'love'. He basically tracks down the love interest and reveals to the person he is trying to help who that person really is in real life.

Dr. Phil also did a show where three very intelligent grown women (who did not know each other obviously) were duped into have relationships with a guy for years, and who really loved that guy, who eventually found out it was actually a woman just pretending. It devastated their lives.

Apparently, it does happen.

[volgadon]

Do you have any insight to why the investigation details are not being released by Notre Dame?

Perhaps because it is easier to investigate something without everyone and their dog sticking their noses into it?

[Damien the Leper]

I don't know what is this thread is about exactly. Can someone give a little back story?

[bluebell]

I don't know what is this thread is about exactly. Can someone give a little back story?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--legend-of-manti-te-o-s-girlfriend--a-tall-tale-everyone-wanted-to-believe-052534925.html

[Damien the Leper]

This story is a disaster. I don't think I care to speculate on what is real and what is not.

[Bob Oliverio]

Perhaps because it is easier to investigate something without everyone and their dog sticking their noses into it?

Your response, while emotional, reflects no basis of reason.

The investigation is over.  If it exonerates Bro Te'o from being part of the fabrication and would clear his name, why would the school or Bro. Te'o object to it's release?

This will be a huge black eye to both ND and Manti if the story eventually shows that Manti was part of the hoax. It will continue to be a media circus for both parties and the media will not let go of it.  If the facts show that Bro Te'o was part of the fabrication it will really hurt the University's credibility since they have now admitted to having investigated the issue and did not reconcile Bro Te'o's statements of having "met" this woman while ND played at Stanford.  

[DBMormon]

Too many loose strands.

- Groups of players have claimed to have met her. (inlcuding Troy Polamalou and the Fullback for the Arizona Cardinals)

- Manti's Dad claims to have met her.

- She called him after her death

- Says he never met her while others have

- Close friends say she, while real, never was his girlfriend

- she is supposed to have attended Stanford (this is where other players met her, where parents met her)

- no record of her by name or having attended Stanford

I am more confused the more I read about it.

I also would see the "gay" angle as the most plausible (Others would have had to help him pull it off, like a real girl posing as his girlfriend for family and friends) though nothing would surprise me at this point.

Reminds me of Napolean Dynamite showing Pedro his girlfriend (a picture of some unknown girl he kept in his pocket)

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8851033/story-manti-teo-girlfriend-death-apparently-hoax

Reagan Mauia, an Arizona Cardinals fullback, said he believes Kekua existed because he met her in person when he and other Polynesian teammates and Pittsburgh Steelers star Troy Polamalu went to do charity work in American Samoa in June 2011.

"This was before her and Manti," Mauia said Wednesday evening. "I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was -- I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

Mauia said Tuiasosopo -- whom Mauia believes is Kekua's cousin -- introduced the two. After the initial meeting, Mauia said he met her at an "after-party" for all of the athletes involved in the camp.

"She was tall," he said. "Volleyball-type of physique. She was athletic, tall, beautiful. Long hair. Polynesian. She looked like a model ... "

Mauia said it is his understanding that Kekua's mother is operating her Twitter account. He said he'd never met her mother. When told by a reporter that she apparently might not have existed, Mauia said: "No, she is real."

The South Bend Tribune reported that on Oct. 10 during a taped interview with Brian Te'o and Manti Te'o's mother Ottillia, the father said that his son and Kekua met in person after a Notre Dame-Stanford game in 2009 in Palo Alto, Calif.

Swarbrick said Te'o never met Kekua in person.

Friends and relatives of Tuiasosopo, a high school classmate of the 22-year-old woman, told Deadspin they believe Tuiasosopo created Kekua. Kekua does not have a death certificate, Deadspin reported. Stanford, where she reportedly went to school, has no record of anybody by that name.

Edited January 18, 2013 by DBMormon

[ERayR]

No evidence. I logically see three options:

1. He's very gullible

2. He's a media whore

3. It was a gay cover up.

Purely speculating here, and I tried to use words to that effect. But at any rate, in my opinion, option 3 was the least insulting.

He may have just let a fantasy go too far. There are people that do that you know.

[Calm]

It's more likely he was a 22 year old guy that became infatuated with someone he thought was a beautiful young woman. People lose their heads over love all the time.

22 year old young men are not known generally for being wise about women.

I can see him inflating the contact level because of being embarrassed about being in love with someone he never met in person, he could even had been teased about it in the past.

It would have been stupidity if he had been involved in the hoax to draw such attention to her by having her die at the same time as his grandmother...not saying that people aren't this stupid in their lies, just that he seems smart enough to know that would be pushing it if it as all about PR.

[Calm]

This story is a disaster. I don't think I care to speculate on what is real and what is not.

The best approach IMO.

[Calm]

Your response, while emotional, reflects no basis of reason.

The investigation is over.

Simply because their investigation is over with does not mean they have resolved all the issues they want to resolve before going public if they decide to do so. When it comes to a crisis, it is not just about learning what the facts are, but then deciding what to do with them and implementing that decision. They may feel at this time implementation will be more successful without having the press and the rest of the world second guess them.

Perhaps the fact they are a Catholic school their sense and respect of privacy and confidentiality is strongly developed.

Edited January 18, 2013 by calmoriah

[Bob Oliverio]

Simply because their investigation is over with does not mean they have resolved all the issues they want to resolve before going public if they decide to do so. When it comes to a crisis, it is not just about learning what the facts are, but then deciding what to do with them and implementing that decision. They may feel at this time implementation will be more successful without having the press and the rest of the world second guess them.

Perhaps the fact they are a Catholic school their sense and respect of privacy and confidentiality is strongly developed.

???????  Hellooo

Notre Dame has already gone public with the fact that they investigated Bro Teo's claims and they have already gone public with their conclusion based on their investigation.  They, and apparently Bro Teo,  now seem to be unwilling to make public the details of the investigation which presumably would exonerate both Bro Teo and the university.  The obvious and blaring question in the national media now is "why"!!!!

And, with no disrespect intended, just turn on a computer or TV and you will see the national and worldwide media is already hounding this story and second guessing both ND and Bro Teo!!!!  Unlike what our sisters wear to Church, this is front page news EVERYWHERE!!!

If there are investigative facts that exonerate Bro Teo it only seems reasonable that both parties would be rushing to make them available given this media firestorm.

Does that not make sense to anyone here??

[ERayR]

??????? Hellooo

Notre Dame has already gone public with the fact that they investigated Bro Teo's claims and they have already gone public with their conclusion based on their investigation. They, and apparently Bro Teo, now seem to be unwilling to make public the details of the investigation which presumably would exonerate both Bro Teo and the university. The obvious and blaring question in the national media now is "why"!!!!

And, with no disrespect intended, just turn on a computer or TV and you will see the national and worldwide media is already hounding this story and second guessing both ND and Bro Teo!!!! Unlike what our sisters wear to Church, this is front page news EVERYWHERE!!!

If there are investigative facts that exonerate Bro Teo it only seems reasonable that both parties would be rushing to make them available given this media firestorm.

Does that not make sense to anyone here??

It is a good thing you don't make decisions for them. I can think of several reasons, that are not damning, for their not going public with their findings.