Catfish creator Nev Schulman believes Manti Te’o’s story

Over two months have passed since Manti Te’o’s relationship with Lennay Kekua was exposed as a fraud, and still some people don’t know what to believe. NFL teams had to decide whether they could trust the former Notre Dame linebacker when evaluating him as a draft prospect.

One thing Te’o has going for him is that Nev Schulman, the creator of the show “Catfish” and someone who once fell for a hoax, believes Te’o’s story.

“Unfortunately my opinion on the matter is pretty tame. I think just like Manti says, he got involved in this relationship and started out as a small correspondence and it grew and grew. The more someone opens up to you the more inclined you are to open to them. Then all of a sudden when they are the victim of illnesses and car accidents you feel the need to be there for them, as they would for you. And before you know it you’re in a relationship. So I don’t think there was much of a deeper plotline, but of course one never knows,” Schulman told The Wall Street Journal.

Schulman told The Journal that his experience of being fooled was similar to Manti’s, and even involved a car accident story.

People will believe what they want, but I’m inclined to think like Schulman and believe Te’o’s story. Maybe some teams believe Te’o’s story while others do not. That’s probably one of many reasons his stock has fallen in the draft. Between a poor combine showing, poor national championship game, and the hoax, teams seemed to be scared away from the linebacker.

Some people think Te’o may go late first round, whereas others feel that is unlikely because he does not project as a three-down linebacker in the pros. We’re guessing he ends up selected late in the first round.

See all the stories related to the Manti Te’o hoax.