San Antonio.- I’m still waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and tell Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o he just got “Punk’d.” And I bet he is too. Te’o was led to believe he was dating Lennay Kekua. The relationship blossomed online and Te’o was love struck, but in reality it was a man, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the entire time.
The source who revealed Tuiasosopo, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated.
The only thing more embarrassing then what happened to Te’o is having the whole world know about it and the BBC to lead with it two days straight on their newscast. Te’o officially went global this week, and the story was epic. It’s almost Lance Armstrong-epic.
Back in early September, in a matter of six hours, his grandmother and girlfriend both died. Days later Te’o, still mourning the tragic loss, took the field against Michigan State and played despite all odds. This was the moment Te’o stole the hearts of fans everywhere who heard his story.
It was the ultimate sad story—textbook sad—but the silver lining was the fact he had his teammates and community of South Bend to console him. From then on Te’o would have a season of a lifetime that ended in a second place finish for the Heisman and a bid at the BCS National Championship.
Notre Dame lost the game and Te’o story began to fade into the archives of every news outlet in the country. That was until Deadspin reported his “dead girlfriend” was a hoax and that she never really existed. There was no record of her ever anywhere, she wasn’t an athlete at Stanford like Te’o thought and his father never met her like he told multiple reporters. She wasn’t real, but Te’o didn’t find out until months later.
Meeting people is common these days and becoming normal for many people. He claims to have talked to her on the phone for hours and falling asleep together during late nights—classic junior high stuff. Te’o released this statement on Wednesday that said, “This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online.
We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating.” Poor guy. He got played. Many reporters thought otherwise and believed he was not truthful about the whole situation.
As crazy as it sounds this actually happens—there is a show on MTV about it—people lie about who they are online all the time. But the person they are lying to normally isn’t a star college football player who has been on the cover of magazines and newspapers across the country.
My theory is, like many people who look to date online, he has low self-esteem and thought he met a beautiful girl. He was content with that and told all his friends too.
What was lost in all this is that Manti Te’o is a young man. Take away the fact he played football at Notre Dame and he’s just another kid. In the end he was the victim of a cruel joke that went global because of the media.
Dennis M. Ayotte, Jr. is a reporter for La Prensa de San Antonio. He may be reached at dayotte@laprensasa.com.
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