Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o had a fictitious girlfriend that passed away in September. At the same time, his real grandmother passed away. The deaths of these two women inspired Te'o to play an impressive and emotional game against Michigan State University where he recorded 12 total tackles and 2 passes defended.
Today, Deadspin broke that Te'o's "girlfriend", Lennay Kekua, was not real. She was a part of an elaborate hoax to trick Te'o into believing she was a real woman. Kekua alleged that she was a student at Stanford University. She also said she was involved in a car accident and eventually she contracted leukemia. Then in September 2012, hours after Te'o's real grandmother passed away, the fake Kekua passed away from Leukemia.
Deadspin received an e-mail in early January saying that something wasn't right about the story of Te'o's girlfriend. Notre Dame hired a private investigator to look into Lennay Kekua. The investigator discovered she did not exist.
Te'o had met Kekua online and only communicated with her online or over the phone. The two never met in person despite several meetings being set up. The picture of Kekua that Te'o had seen online was a photo of an unidentified and uninvolved California woman.
Te'o considered Kekua to be his girlfriend because he had grown to care for her after their online and telephone conversations. He had believed the relationship to be "authentic".
Te'o released this statement Wednesday, Jan. 16:
Today, Deadspin broke that Te'o's "girlfriend", Lennay Kekua, was not real. She was a part of an elaborate hoax to trick Te'o into believing she was a real woman. Kekua alleged that she was a student at Stanford University. She also said she was involved in a car accident and eventually she contracted leukemia. Then in September 2012, hours after Te'o's real grandmother passed away, the fake Kekua passed away from Leukemia.
Deadspin received an e-mail in early January saying that something wasn't right about the story of Te'o's girlfriend. Notre Dame hired a private investigator to look into Lennay Kekua. The investigator discovered she did not exist.
Te'o had met Kekua online and only communicated with her online or over the phone. The two never met in person despite several meetings being set up. The picture of Kekua that Te'o had seen online was a photo of an unidentified and uninvolved California woman.
Te'o considered Kekua to be his girlfriend because he had grown to care for her after their online and telephone conversations. He had believed the relationship to be "authentic".
Te'o released this statement Wednesday, Jan. 16:
"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating. It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life."