Manti Teo’s story that his girlfriend, the supposedly passed-on Lennay Kekua is, well, not a real person, a hoax, has become topic number one in American sports pop culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjFzSeEJE4
The story was unearthed by the blog Deadspin two days ago. But before this blogger dives into the details behind it, let’s get this take out of the way: a girlfriend is someone you have sex with period. And by that, real sex – not phone sex or cyber sex – the kind of contact such that you can openly feel that the woman you’re with is your girlfriend.
Because if the woman Manti Teo referred to as “his girlfriend” was just a phone contact, it then offers the question wasn’t he ever concerned that she may have had a real, physical boyfriend?
That’s why I find the Notre Dame Linebacker’s story hard to believe. What I think is he imagined this girl to exist as a good cover for the fact that he didn’t have a girlfriend, for whatever reason. Could it have been part of an effort to gain sympathy votes for the Heisman? You, know…Maybe. I’m not ready to say no to that possibility now. There’s too many totally unbelievable stories made believable for me to want to just throw in the towel on that one.
Manti Teo Still An NFL First Round Pick
As to the idea that this will or should impact Mr. Teo’s draft status, I don’t see why it should. It had nothing to do with his lockeroom relationships or his play on the field. Manti didn’t commit a crime. He didn’t insult anyone. If anything, Mr. Teo’s now being punished in the court of public opinion, and that’s a factor any good NFL GM or personnel evaluator should take into account.
Stay tuned.