Notre Dame: Te'o's girlfriend is a hoax

SOUTH BEND – It was a story that tugged at the heart strings of Notre Dame fans and football followers around the country – Manti Te'o's inspirational journey to success following the death of his grandmother and girlfriend within hours of each other.

But tonight, the university is responding to a report the death of his girlfriend, Lennay Kekau, was a hoax at Teo's expense.

Last September, Kekua reportedly died from leukemia within hours of the death of Teo's grandmother. Deadspin.com released a report Wednesday claiming Kekua never existed.

Teo's statement

Te'o released a written statement early Wednesday evening.

"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online," admitted Te'o. "We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OCTOBER 3 COMMENTS FROM TE'O ABOUT GIRLFRIEND

"It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life.

"I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been.

"In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was.

"Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."

Notre Dame response

On Wednesday night Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick talked to the media about the case.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL NEWS CONFERENCE

Te'o reportedly became aware of the hoax on December 6. Notre Dame learned about it on December 26th and hired an outside investigative company to look into it.

On Wednesday, a visibly emotional Swarbrick talked about Te'o as a victim.

"Manti is so willing to believe in others, so willing to help…the hoax played on those tendencies of Manti and roped him into the trap," he said.

Swarbrick says investigators uncovered perpetrators' online "chatter" taking glee in the hoax. He its unclear as to motive. NCAA violation? Game outcome? Extortion?

Swarbrick may have been alluding to something that started back in early December. Two people were joking about the death hoax on Twitter. Read more about that here.

"The single-most trusting human being I've ever met will never be able to trust the same way again.That's an incredible tragedy," said Swarbrick, holding back tears.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LOCAL REACTION ON TWITTER

According to university spokesman Dennis Brown:

"On December 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te'o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia.

"The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators." 

Unanswered questions

On Wednesday Swarbrick told reporters that Te'o was contacted by an alleged perpetrator of the hoax on Dec. 6, while in Florida for the ESPN College Football Awards show, and that a female caller whom Te'o recognized as that of the person he believed to be Kekua told him that she was "still alive."

However, in a Dec. 8 interview with a group of reporters before the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City -- two days after Swarbrick said Te'o received the phone call -- Te'o was asked a question about his community service work. He said, in part, the following quote:

"I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer."

CLICK HERE TO SEE DEC. 8 COMMENTS FROM TE'O ABOUT GIRLFRIEND

Is this a grieving Te'o struggling with how to process the brand-new revelation that his feelings for his girlfriend were very real, but she was not?

Or perhaps perpetuating the hoax, as Deadspin's article suggests?

Te'o's comment does not prove complicity in the hoax, but it does raise more questions, yet to be answered.

WSBT was the only South Bend television station with Te'o in New York City. You can watch the video of Te'o's quote by clicking on it within this article.

 

Swarbrick indicated last night that Manti Te'o may share his side of the story as soon as today. So we could get more answers then.