Manti Te’o

The details continue to surface surrounding the now infamous hoax of one Manti Te’o. The editors at sports blog Deadspin originally broke the story that Te’o’s girlfriend actually doesn’t exist.
 
Since then, the public has been told by numerous journalists and news organizations that (a) the Notre Dame star linebacker was in on the hoax right from the beginning, (b) Te’o didn’t know at first but kept the lie going in order to garner attention during a Heisman race and undefeated season, or (c) Te’o never knew his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, was fake until the rest of us found out.

Either way, there is only one question you should be asking in regards to the bizarre sports story: “Who cares?”

This is exactly my reaction now that we are about two weeks post-Deadspin’s 15 minutes of fame in the national news. Of course I cared at first — who didn’t? I embarrassingly admit I read at least 20 articles on the story and tried to learn all of the details in order to understand it completely. But, now? This just needs to go away.

Here are the facts: Manti Te’o was the best player on a team that was the only undefeated team during the regular season this past year in college football. He finished second in the Heisman voting, almost becoming the first purely defensive player to win the award (Charles Woodson won it in 1997 as a defensive back and kick returner). He racked up more than 100 tackles for the third straight season to go along with his two sacks and seven interceptions in 2012. Te’o was the heart and soul of a Notre Dame defense that finished first in the country – allowing only 10.3 points per game.

And here’s another fact: Manti Te’o never actually had a girlfriend that died from leukemia after suffering serious injuries in a car crash. So if it never happened, then why are we still talking about it? Sure, the pundits and critics will say this whole scenario is tough for a college kid to handle and it must have affected his persona enough to hurt his NFL Draft stock in April. However, this is not the case.

Either way, Te’o is a phenomenal athlete and a leader that will probably, regardless of outside events, go to an NFL team in the first round of this year’s draft and become a slightly lesser version of Ray Lewis. They both have the same fire, fight and past shady history that they must overcome. Sound familiar? The same man that is set to retire after he plays his last game in the Super Bowl is the same college grad that has appeared on Katie Couric and ESPN and Dr. Phil.

The public must know that if Te’o is a true football player as advertised, he will get over this hoax whether he was in on it or not. He should be mature enough to realize his future is at stake in the next few months if he refuses to let this pass.