Did you enjoy the uplifiting story, the tale of a man who responded to adversity by becoming one of the top players of the game? If so, stop reading.
Manti Te'o did lose his grandmother this past fall. Annette Santiago died on Sept. 11, 2012, at the age of 72, according to Social Security Administration records in Nexis. But there is no SSA record there of the death of Lennay Marie Kekua, that day or any other. Her passing, recounted so many times in the national media, produces no obituary or funeral announcement in Nexis, and no mention in the Stanford student newspaper.
Nor is there any report of a severe auto accident involving a Lennay Kekua. Background checks turn up nothing. The Stanford registrar's office has no record that a Lennay Kekua ever enrolled. There is no record of her birth in the news. Outside of a few Twitter and Instagram accounts, there's no online evidence that Lennay Kekua ever existed.
The photographs identified as Kekua—in online tributes and on TV news reports—are pictures from the social-media accounts of a 22-year-old California woman who is not named Lennay Kekua. She is not a Stanford graduate; she has not been in a severe car accident; and she does not have leukemia. And she has never met Manti Te'o.
Re: Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a hoax
Quote:
On September 11, Te'o suffered the loss of both his grandmother and girlfriend within the span of one day.[29] His girlfriend, Stanford student Lennay Kekua, died after battling leukemia.[30] Te'o missed no games, due to a promise made to his girlfriend. In a press conference Te'o spoke about his decision to remain at Notre Dame and play in the game versus Michigan State on the day of her funeral, saying, "I really wanted to see her [girlfriend Kekua]. But I knew that she made me promise, you know one day she made me promise that, she said, 'Babe, if anything happens to me, you promise that you'll still stay over there and that you'll play and that you'll honor me through the way you play, and know that I would rather have you there.' And just make sure that all she wanted was some white roses. White is her favorite color. So she just wanted some white roses and that's all she asked for. So I sent her roses and sent her two picks along with that, so that was good."[31]
So all of this is a lie? Wonder how dumb that guy is if he didn't think someone would find the truth.
Re: Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a hoax
"My bet is that deadspin just outed a gay guy to his Mormon family. Nice going, guys!"
"That was my initial thought too. He was dating a guy who pretends to be a girl online, and when people want to starting meeting "her" he freaks out and makes up a story about her dying without thinking how people will react. That's the only explanation I can come up with that doesn't involve Te'o being a terrible, terrible person."
Re: Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a hoax
Just read this entire story. Holy shit. I'm really interested to see where this story goes. If true, this makes SI, ESPN and all of the other media outlets who promoted this story look like fools. Not to mention Manti..
Re: Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a hoax
Quote:
Originally Posted by Faptastrophe
"My bet is that deadspin just outed a gay guy to his Mormon family. Nice going, guys!"
"That was my initial thought too. He was dating a guy who pretends to be a girl online, and when people want to starting meeting "her" he freaks out and makes up a story about her dying without thinking how people will react. That's the only explanation I can come up with that doesn't involve Te'o being a terrible, terrible person."
Re: Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a hoax
People who are wondering if Te'o was duped by his friend are stupid, Te'o claimed to spend time with her, it's completely apparent he was in on the whole thing. The worst part of it is they used his own grandmothers death to perpetrate the level of tragedy by claiming his GF died on the same day as his grandmother.
edit: not surprisingly, Notre Dame just released a statement that Te'o was the victim of the hoax and of course wasn't in on it.
Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend is a hoax
