Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o had a fake girlfriend. The story by Deadspin published on Wednesday first asserted that, and Notre Dame confirmed it in a press conference later in the day.
At this point we know that Te’o lied in some capacity about the story. He either:
a) Was part of the hoax and lied for some twisted reason (Deadspin reports his motivation was to gain publicity)
or
b) Lied about how he met his girlfriend, maybe because he was embarrassed about it being an online relationship.
No matter which side you believe — that he was in on it or not — Te’o lied.
Late Wednesday night, Twitter user Justin Megahan dug up some tweets from a few Twitter users who connected a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo to the Lennay Kekua fake identity.
Tuiasosopo (pictured), as his last name suggests, is part of the Tuiasosopo football family that includes former Washington quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo and former NFL player Manu Tuiasosopo. Deadspin reported in its piece that Ronaiah has been using the Lennay Kekua fake identity to dupe people since at least 2008. Deadspin says he is 22, played high school football in Lancaster, Calif., and is currently involved in his family’s church. He has interacted with Te’o over Twitter, attended the USC-Notre Dame game with his family reportedly as guests of Te’o, and he and Te’o know each other, according to Deadspin.
Below are tweets from two separate Twitter users who link Tuiasosopo to a fabricated Kekua identity. The tweets come from someone named Terrence Dado Luapo (@Bamm90745) and JayR (@jayRahz).
It appears as if Luapo read the Deadspin story on Wednesday and realized that Tuiasosopo duped Te’o:
ronaiah tuiasosopo was manti te’oscatfish????
— TERRENCE DADO LUAPO (@BAMM90745) January 16, 2013
Luapo infers that Tuiasosopo’s motivation may have been to mess with Te’o for choosing Notre Dame over USC. Tuiasosopo’s father Titus, played for USC, and his cousin, Fred Matua, was also a Trojan.
pastor titus: how could u do this son? ronaiah: im sorry dad. pastor titus: we’re usc fans u should be in love w/troy or lofa lmao
— TERRENCE DADO LUAPO (@BAMM90745) January 17, 2013
Luapo continued to laugh about Tuiasosopo messing with Te’o, and he implies that Ronaiah might have a thing for naked men:
i hope @mteo_5 didnt send lennay any nude pics. ronaiah prolly posted them on his piano so he can look at them while he plays @ church lmao
— TERRENCE DADO LUAPO (@BAMM90745) January 16, 2013
lets all go to ronaiahs church n wear manti te’o jerseys lol
— TERRENCE DADO LUAPO (@BAMM90745) January 17, 2013
Tweets from @jayRahz outed Tuiasosopo as the mastermind behind the Lennay Kekua persona back in December 2012. Jay Rahz says Tuiasosopo was inspired by Catfish:
My fam & I have an idea who the guy is behind the @lennaykay profile & hes up there leading a worship band at his dad’s church! SMFH
— jay.R (@jayRahz) December 4, 2012
The person behind @lennaykay created the leukemia death story cause of @whatiscatfish
— jay.R (@jayRahz) December 4, 2012
Rahz said on Wednesday night that they learned Tuiasosopo was posing as Kekua back in 2008:
we caught Ronaiah’s persona as Lennay Kekua back in 2008 and ended all ties with him..
— jay.R (@jayRahz) January 17, 2013
What Rahz tweeting isn’t really new information; Deadspin reported the connection between Tuiasosopo and Kekua in its piece. Still, the tweets are a good visualization of what happened, and what may have led Deadspin to Tuiasosopo.
Until more information is revealed, it is still up to you to decide whether you believe what Manti and Notre Dame are insisting — that the linebacker was the victim of the hoax — or what Deadspin is reporting. I know I’m not buying what the former is selling. There are way too many holes in Te’o’s story, and I have an extraordinarily difficult time believing that someone who is smart enough to excel at linebacker and attend Notre Dame could also be the most naive man on the planet.
See all our stories on Manti Teo’s fake girlfriend
