As of now, Manti Te’o appears to be sticking to the story that he found out that his dead girlfriend Lennay Kekua never actually existed on Dec. 6. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says Te’o got a phone call on that day from the voice he had previously known as Kekua’s, and that’s when he realized he had been duped.
Naturally, reporters were still interested in what they thought was a tragic story leading up to the BCS National Championship Game. During a press conference on Jan. 3, Te’o was asked about how he has been coping with the passing of his grandmother and the so-called love of his life. He gave the following response, via Buzzfeed.
“I think whenever you’re in football, it takes your mind off a lot of things,” Te’o replied. “You know, this team is very special to me, and the guys on it have always been there for me, through the good times and the bad times.
“I rarely have a quiet time to myself because I always have somebody calling me, asking, do you want to go to the movies. Coach is always calling me asking me, “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” I have three roommates, Zeke, Carlo and Robby Toma, who are always yelling at each other, who’s going to play Call of Duty. I’m rarely by myself, and that’s how I like it. I’m always around my guys, always around my family.”
In fairness to Te’o — if he deserves any — he didn’t say anything specific about Kekua. If he did indeed know that he was the victim of a hoax at the time, he obviously wasn’t going to reveal that just a few days before Notre Dame was set to face Alabama for the national title. Either Te’o was in on it, or he went to great lengths like this to make the story believable. Regardless of what you believe, I think we can all agree that the entire thing is eery.
See all our stories on Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend
