In what Deadspin is describing as an elaborate hoax, Kekua was an online persona created by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a friend of Te'o's and a pastor at a church in Palmdale, Calif. Says the Deadspin article:
"We spoke with friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who asserted that Ronaiah was the man behind Lennay. He created Lennay in 2008, one source said, and Te'o wasn't the first person to have an online 'relationship' with her. One mark – who had been 'introduced' to Lennay by Tuiasosopo – lasted about a month before family members grew suspicious that Lennay could never be found on the telephone, and that wherever one expected Lennay to be, Ronaiah was there instead. Two sources discounted Ronaiah's stunt as a prank that only metastasized because of Te'o's rise to national celebrity this past season."
Added
The article quotes a friend of Tuiasosopo's as saying he was "80 percent sure" that Te'o was "in on it," and that "the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua's death with publicity in mind."
"Mostly, though," the articles continues, "the friend simply couldn't believe that Te'o would be stupid enough – or Ronaiah Tuiasosopo clever enough – to sustain the relationship for nearly a year."
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Best case scenario for Te'o is that he was a victim that never actually met this girl- ie. online relationship... Even if this is the case, Te'o clearly fed into the emotional impact of the story by not making it known that he never actually met the girl. If the perpetrator behind the hoax was a man, who was Te'o supposedly talking to on the phone? Either way, this scenario kind of makes Te'o look dumb.
Worst case scenario is that Te'o was involved or complicit in the hoax, in which case his career in football (reputation at least) is in serious jeopardy.
Best case scenario for Te'o is that he was a victim that never actually met this girl- ie. online relationship... Even if this is the case, Te'o clearly fed into the emotional impact of the story by not making it known that he never actually met the girl. If the perpetrator behind the hoax was a man, who was Te'o supposedly talking to on the phone? Either way, this scenario kind of makes Te'o look dumb.
Worst case scenario is that Te'o was involved or complicit in the hoax, in which case his career in football (reputation at least) is in serious jeopardy.
Quote:
Te'o's father, Brian, told the Tribune in October 2012. "Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there."
Considering people have killed people and come back to play football (and even get talked about like a god for the past two weeks) I doubt that this would put his career in jeopardy.
It seems like a crazy story and with him being Mormon not that tough to believe that he would have been a part of it to boost his own reputation but it does seem odd that nothing seemed to come out about it until Dec. 26.
Considering people have killed people and come back to play football (and even get talked about like a god for the past two weeks) I doubt that this would put his career in jeopardy.
It seems like a crazy story and with him being Mormon not that tough to believe that he would have been a part of it to boost his own reputation but it does seem odd that nothing seemed to come out about it until Dec. 26.
Two troll jobs in the same post. Nice work, moon.
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Yeah Moon is definitely right. This won't affect his chances to succeed in the NFL. The NFL is full of shady people of questionable character in it, but if you can play you get to play. Tebow's a Saint (literally someday I'd imagine) but since he throws worse than my sister (who like Manti's girlfriend doesn't exist), he won't get to see the field. It's a results driven business, so his performance against Alabama hurts 10 times more than this does.
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I have to say I am a little shocked that it seems there was little to no research/verification of this, by interviewers, magazines, etc., especially when money started to change hands (the fundraisers for his girlfriend, etc). I mean, in this day and age? I participate on a couple of other online forums and holy hell, if you're going to start asking for money, even for it to be donated to a cause not specifically involving you, you'd best have your freaking ducks lined up in a row and said ducks best be all marching along exactly as they're supposed to. Maybe we're a skeptical bunch but yeah, people google the crap out of stories, question stuff like crazy. I am shocked that didn't happen in this situation, if it comes out that this is well and truly a hoax perpetuated by Te'o.
That's what gets me. How did people not backcheck when money was being organized? That could've open some red flags there.
