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Manti Te’o is still very young and he will be in the 2013 NFL draft. However, he does not get paid to play the game quite yet, so why are we so critical of the mistakes he has made? On Wednesday, a story from Deadspin broke about the young star’s fake dead girlfriend, Lennay Kekua. There are quite a few holes in his story, but it’s not our place to judge the private life of any college star. We have to remember, we thought his girlfriend died, his grandmother actually did.
The story itself seems rather unbelievable, but it is still possible. Te’o says he learned of the situation in December and told Notre Dame officials about it. They believe he was a victim of a scam because he trusts people too much. Through all of this, nobody seems to care about the people that actually pulled this incredible elaborate joke on Te’o. They conned him into believing something and whether or not the story is real remains to be seen, but either way, the perpetrators should be getting more attention than Te’o. If those people are real, they are sick.
Manti is in a ridiculously embarrassing situation. I do not know why he was in an online relationship. I do not know why he fell for the joke and neither do you. If it is a lie, who cares, it doesn’t affect you in any way. America has a sick attachment to reality TV and this is no different. It’s almost like people want to see him crumble under the weight of a story that seems too farfetched to believe.
People took to Twitter to take a few shots at Manti and I can’t blame them. Some of the jokes that were made were too funny not to share. We have had our fun, it’s time to let it go, but people won’t. Manti is about to become another overused joke that loses its appeal and just becomes sad. The whole story is sad no matter how you look at it. A mistake was made. Let Manti escape with whatever dignity he has left.
Follow Kase Brammer on Twitter @KBlive33
