Manti Te'o Blows it at the NFL Combine

By M. Shannon Smallwood
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

It’s official…

Manti Te’o simply blew it once again for himself and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish today.

In his first appearance since the Catfish debacle and appearing in front of the big boy media at the NFL Combine, Te’o muttered the following…

“I did, we made plans but it never worked out,” Te’o said about plans to meet his fake girlfriend.
“Teams want to trust their player. You don’t want to invest in someone that you can’t trust,” Te’o said about whether or not team can trust him.
“For me in all of this I’ve learned just to be honest in everything you do. Keep your circle very small, and realize who’s really in your corner and who isn’t,” Te’o on what he’s learned.
“The toughest moment was a phone call from my sister saying that they needed to be snuck out of their home. To know that my family had to deal with because of my actions. That was the toughest part,” Te’o on what has been the most difficult part of all of this.
“Everybody makes mistakes.Try to empathize with people going through tough times,” Te’o on his mistake and the mistakes of others.
“No that is the worst thing I could do. If you forgive, that is what’s most beneficial for me,” on pursuing legal action against Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
“As people we need to realize we are all people,” Te’o on his view of the world.

(yawn)

Is that not the most boring piece of crap you have ever heard?!?

Te’o had an opportunity to completely reinvent himself today, but he and his PR folks absolutely laid a big ole fat egg. Sure he came off sincere and genuine as he handled the NFL media with poise and confidence. But he had the chance to put all of this behind him once and for all and he simply blew it…

Just think about if Te’o would have handled today the way this sports writer would have…

Te’o should have walked up to the podium with an inflatable doll (or something similar all dressed up) and stated, “I would like to thank you all for letting me speak to you today… I would also like to introduce you to my new girlfriend… her name is Agatha…”

Could you imagine the laughter and brilliance of Te’o making fun of himself and his mistake in front of that crowd. In one single moment, he could have returned to the darling he was about 90 days ago. But he had to play it the safe route.

He could have gone on and on about how nice it is to have a girlfriend with him that he can hold hands with and someone who really knows him. It could have been pure gold.

Seriously, who wouldn’t have paid to have seen that today…

But, instead, we get the boring blah, blah, blahs…

And on a side note, if Te’o is looking for an agent/PR guy, this guy is available…

Tell Te’o he can find me on the Twitter

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M Shannon Smallwood is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the US Basketball Writers Association.

Follow him @woodysmalls.

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