Who is Manti Te’o? What was the hoax around his Girlfriend and Catfishing?
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Manti Te'o documentary Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist
Every kid dreams of one day starring at his dream college team and then getting drafted to the NFL with the 1st round pick if not the 1st. To be one of the highly touted prospects for whom teams will be falling over themselves. After being drafted every one wants to shine and have the best endorsements and earn millions of dollars.
Manti Te’o was one of those kids but something crazy happened in his life that was a huge detriment to his career not only in college but also in the NFL and his life as a whole. Many have heard the name, some may have heard the story, and some may not be sure who is this guy. For everyone this is a small peek into the story of Manti Te’o and a career that could have been that.
Former NFL linebacker Manti Te’o was born in Laie, Hawaii in a Samoan family. In 2012 was one of the best defensive prospects. Coming out of college after playing 4 years for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish who came 2nd in Heisman voting but that wasn’t the biggest story regarding Te’o.
The story about Te’o that was getting national coverage was his tragic tale of losing his grandmother Annette Santiago and his girlfriend Lene Kekua on the same day in 2011 and still not missing a game for his team to lead them to the College Football National Championship game but then disaster struck Te’o’s life in the form of a Deadspin article that made Te’ o a butt of jokes, a lier in the eyes of many and left behind in its wake a broken man subject to abuse from all corners of society. What could have been more tragic than what had already happened?
Also Read: “I salute you my brother!” LeBron James acknowledges Manti Te’o after revealing his UNTOLD story
Manti Te’o a cheating perpetrator or a poor victim?
The Deadspin article revealed that not only Manti Te’o’s online only girlfriend Lennay Kekua was not dead but she had never existed. The tragic love story that had the nation’s interest was never what Te’o or the world thought it was. The article went on to explain that Kekua was a lie fabricated by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a person who has since then come out as a trans woman and goes by the name Naya Tuiasosopo.
The world was shocked by the revelation but perhaps not more than Te’o himself who sadly became the butt of all jokes and was trolled mercilessly across all social media and even had an SNL sketch based on him regarding the whole fiasco. Te’o ,who had a disastrous performance in the BCS National Championship game that his team lost, was affected greatly and had what many describe as a bad draft combine Te’o who was earlier projected as a 1st round pick was falling and the story didn’t help his cause and he went from a projected first-round pick to being late 2nd round pick by the then San Diego Chargers.
After that Te’o had an injury-riddled NFL career that never became what it was expected by many to be. Te’o despite all the potential he showed in college had a lacklustre NFL career during which he played for the New Orleans Saints and was last seen in 2020 with the Chicago Bears in addition to the Chargers.
Manti Te’o never became the Superstar he dreamed of becoming and many believe that the Catfish of catfishes had something to do with it. The Manti Te’o story is a tale of tragedy and a tale of caution in this digital world. The Manti Te’o catfish story and its aftermath were the subject of a recently released Netflix documentary titled- Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.
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