Daniel Tuchman

12/1/15
COMM-383m
Durbin

The Catholics and the Catfish

December 10th, 2012. Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Teo stands on a stage with Texas

A&M Quarterback Johnny Manziel. Teo was a standout defender on the hard-hitting,

undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish who played through the back-to-back deaths of his

grandmother and his girlfriend. Johnny Manziel, the freshman breakout party boy, wins the

Heisman Trophy over Teo. People everywhere are disappointed for Teo. The story about him

and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, was famous1. When she died on either September 11th or 12th

(the details are a little messy), Teo went out to play the best game of his life and upset Michigan

State. ESPN and other sports networks were eating up this angle. After beating Michigan 13-6,

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly gave the game ball to Lennay. Lennays death started the

beginning of Manti Teos Heisman campaign. The story about Teo and Kekua was inspiring, it

was tear-jerking, but most of all, it was relatable. Everyone has lost someone so important to

them and that is what made the public love Teo so much Until January 16th, 2013.

Deadspin.com releases an article titled Manti Teos Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking

and Inspirational Story of the College Football Season, Is A Hoax.2 The expos on the sports

site for the Gawker Network revealed that there was never a person named Lennay Kekua and

that all the stories that ESPN had been repeating were false. In this new era of sports, the line

between a players professional life and his personal life has never been thinner.

1
Carson, Dan. "Remembering Lennay Kekua, Before the Biggest Game of Manti Te'o's Life." Bleacher Report.
N.p., 7 Jan. 2013.
2
Burke, Timothy, and Jack Dickey. "Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story
Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax." Deadspin. N.p., 16 Jan. 2013.
 2

The reveal that Lennay Kekua was not real caused many different reactions for sports

fans everywhere. Some gasped at how surprised they were when they realized that this person

that they had heard so many wonderful stories about was fake. Some laughed at how incredulous

the whole situation was. Mostly, people were intrigued. They wanted more of the mystery. How

was Teo lead on for so long? Why did he lie about his involvement with her? Was Teo

involved with the hoax? Never had fans got such an intricate look into the life of an athlete.

What Teos camp though would increase his popularity completely backfired and made him

look like a fool. This event brought up the issue of how much do sports fans need to know about

the athletes that they root for. Should an athlete be both appreciated for his on-field performance

along with his off-field performance? When it came to Manti Teo, his personal life was a huge

reason he was a college football all-star. Yes, he did lead his undefeated team in tackles, but

what really won him over with the crowd was his relationship with Kekua and her death. After

her death and the subsequent games, Teo was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In 2012, Teo

was on top of the college football world due to both his outstanding play and his outstanding

stories. Without either one of these, he would not be in the position he was. Even though he was

the defensive leader of an undefeated team, he wouldnt get the publicity he got without his

relationship with Kekua. However, once word got out that Kekua was not real, it ruined Teos

reputation. Theres a serious dichotomy when it comes to athletes and how much of their private

lives they release to the public. In 2014, USC Cornerback Josh Shaw broke his ankle jumping

off of a third story balcony3. He said he jumped off to save his drowning nephew. While the

injury was sports related, the reason was definitely not. It was revealed a few days later that

Shaw did not jump from the balcony to save his nephew, but to run away from the cops (or so it

3
Plaschke, Bill. "USC's Josh Shaw Tells Tale of Lying about Pool Rescue, Now Waits." Los Angeles Times. Los
Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2014.
 3

had been reported). USC hammed up the story to get good publicity for the program, but when

the truth was discovered, USC was relentlessly mocked for releasing a story without any

evidence to back it up. Social media can be a cruel mistress to athletes and their athletic

programs even with evidence; so when a program makes a blunder like that, it is a mockery

death sentence. However, the Teo scandal was a whole different beast. It was a systematic

fantasy that spanned at least two years.

While many athletes try to avoid social media and the controversy that spawns with it,

Teo was very big into social media. Many times Teo would use Twitter to communicate with

family, friends, and his girlfriend. When an athlete like Teo is so open on social media, he

must also be open to the criticisms it yields. Since the article about Lennay Kekua was released,

Teo has only tweeted once. He deleted every tweet that was made before November 15th, 2011

and all tweets mentioning Kekua4. The relationship between an athlete and his fans on social

media is a fragile one. Make one wrong move, and all your followers start badmouthing you.

On the blog site Tumblr5, Teo was lampooned by a trend called Teoing. People would pretend

to have their arm around a girl when there was none. However, since the event and all the

collateral damage, Teo has done a good job of staying out of the limelight.

The most interesting part of the Manti Teo scandal might be who Lennay Kekua actually

was. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo comes from a long lineage of football players and is a family friend of

Teo. He created Lennay Kekua. Kekua was not his first creation and Teo was not his first

mark. So what this adds up to is that Teo thought he was dating a girl, but it was actually his

friend, Ronaiah. Or thats what the public was told. The first issue with this is why is a star

athlete like Teo so invested in lying. His story about how he met Lennay, which circulated the

4
Te'o, Manti. "Manti Te'o Twitter." Twitter. N.p., n.d.
5
"#Teoing." #Teoing. Tumblr, n.d.
 4

sports networks, was obviously untrue. Why did he tell everyone thats how it happened? Why

didnt he tell everyone that they met online? There is no stigma against online dating for non-

athletes, but there obviously is one for athletes. Athletes, in todays society, are looked upon as

role models and leaders, and due to those societal norms, Teo would look silly if he was dating

someone who he never met. People would question his personal life choices, which had no

effect on his on-field performance. Teo tried to hide the fact that he was dating someone he

never met, but it became bigger than he ever imagined, and he just rolled with it. He never

decided to tell his coached or his school to shut it all down. He knew that the public loved this

persona of his. Once he got in too deep, there was no escape. Another issue is Teos naivet

with this so-called relationship. Teo was a high profile athlete and catfishing scandals had been

going on for quite some time at that point6. Why would he not check to make sure the woman he

was dating was real? Why did he never ask any questions or try to meet up? Obviously if Teo

had some professional help, this could have been avoided, but due to NCAA rules, Teo and

other college athletes are not allowed help from outside managers and public relations advisors.

The school is supposed to be in charge of all public relations, but while their job is to help the

student athletes, their main purpose is to help the athletic programs bottom line. The school

milked Lennay for all she was worth. It was a big part of the schools Heisman campaign. It

was ridiculous that the school did not try and fact-check their own campaign. It was amateur.

There is a third issue that is always brought up when the Teo story is reminisced upon.

Was Teo in on it the whole time? What if he was not this nave fool that everyone saw it as?

What if he knew that Lennay Kekua was actually Ronaiah Tuiasosopo the whole time? What

kind of adverse effects would that have on his career? Manti Teo was raised Mormon in Hawaii,

6
Pilon, Mary. "In Teo Story, Deception Ripped From the Screen." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17
Jan. 2013.
 5

and he was taught that homosexuality was a sin. One main theory about this whole scandal was

that Teo was in a homosexual relationship with Tuiasosopo and covered it up with Kekua. This

theory is not unfounded as well. After the scandal was discovered, news agency jumped at the

opportunity to interview Tuiasosopo. In an interview with Dr. Phil, Tuiasosopo admitted that he

was in love with Teo7. He states that he had fallen in love with Teo over the course of their

online relationship. When asked if he was gay, he stated, Honestly, Im so confused8. Teo

was interviewed by Katie Couric several days later and was asked the same question. Teo

stated that he was far from it9. One of the big issues today in modern sports is homosexuality.

Just like how it used to be in the armed forces, there is an unofficial Dont Ask; Dont Tell

policy in major sports. Only recently, have athletes started coming out in public. The most

notable example of this is football player Michael Sam. Sam played for the Missouri Tigers

from 2009-2013 and was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. While Sam no longer plays in the NFL,

his legacy lives on. Sam was the first openly gay player to play in the NFL. Sam told the world

he was gay after his spectacular SEC Defensive Player of the Year season in 201310. While it

never affected Sams on-field performance, it did bring a lot of unwanted attention to Sam and

the teams that might have wanted him. When Sam was cut from the St. Louis Rams, there was

more attention put on them than any other pre-season cleaning that they had done before. Sam

was not cut because he was gay; he was cut because he did not perform up to snuff. Being gay in

a professional sports league currently brings a lot of unwanted attention (so does being catfished).

7
Burke, Timothy, and Jack Dickey. "Here's Everything Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Told Dr. Phil In Day One Of His
Exclusive Interview." Deadspin. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013.
8
Burke, Timothy, and Jack Dickey. "Here's Everything Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Told Dr. Phil In Day One Of His
Exclusive Interview." Deadspin. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013.
9
Smith, Michael David. "Katie Couric Asks Manti Teo If Hes Gay, His Answer Speaks Volumes."
Profootballtalk. NBC Sports, 24 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
10
Connelly, Chris. "Mizzou's Michael Sam Says He's Gay." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 03
Dec. 2015.
 6

If Teo were gay, would he want to admit it to the public? As of 2012, it would be unlikely.

Now? Maybe. But if Teo was gay, he would rather be seen as nave than homosexual.

The narrative of the Teo story started off with a bang. It was the week after his team

was blown out in the national championship game. All of this information was just dumped on

the Internet by Deadspin, and everyone got to dig into Teos personal (made public) life. The

beginning tones of the public towards Teo were accusatory. People believed that Teo knew all

of this and made it all up to garner sympathy. Well, sympathy was the last thing Teo was

receiving during this time. This attitude for Teo eventually died down, but the investigatory

spirit did not. People were no longer mad at Teo for lying a week later. Now they were just

interested in how it happened and if there was more to the story. People wanted to know if Teo

was in on it; either for professional reasons or romantic ones. The narrative of Teo being gay

popped up a while later. People were trying to convince themselves that there was no way that

Teo was that nave. However, almost a month after the story was exposed, it died down. Teo

and his camp was keeping quiet about it and no new information was being revealed. They

properly killed the story. When the NFL draft started up, concerns about Teo and his honesty

arose, but nothing ever came from it.

The story of Manti Teo and Lennay Kekua is certainly an odd one with a lot of mystery

and a lot of speculation. What we do know is that Kekua showed him the spotlight but was also

the cane that pulled him off stage. Fans had such an intimate look into the love life of Teo

during the season and it was quickly ripped away like a bandage covering a wound. People were

intrigued to see a side of an athlete that they had never seen before. Many issues in sports were

brought up relating to this case: athletes personal lives, athletes and their fans on social media,

athletes and homosexuality. Teo has always been soft-spoken but the people who spoke for him,
 7

like ESPN and Notre Dame, were anything but. They pushed the narrative of Teo playing for

his deceased girlfriend so much, that when the truth was revealed, Teo fell to depths

unimaginable. How far will a network or program go to gain viewership that they would not

even fact check. Teo is now performing well as a starter for the San Diego Chargers. He

doesnt let the past hold him back, and he also no longer shares his personal life.
 8

Works Cited

Associated Press. "Hoaxer Was in Love with Manti Te'o." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 31
Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Burke, Timothy, and Jack Dickey. "Here's Everything Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Told Dr. Phil In Day
One Of His Exclusive Interview." Deadspin. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Burke, Timothy, and Jack Dickey. "Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And
Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax." Deadspin. N.p., 16 Jan.
2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.

Carson, Dan. "Remembering Lennay Kekua, Before the Biggest Game of Manti Te'o's
Life." Bleacher Report. N.p., 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Connelly, Chris. "Mizzou's Michael Sam Says He's Gay." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 10
Feb. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Pilon, Mary. "In Teo Story, Deception Ripped From the Screen." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Plaschke, Bill. "USC's Josh Shaw Tells Tale of Lying about Pool Rescue, Now Waits." Los
Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Smith, Michael David. "Katie Couric Asks Manti Teo If Hes Gay, His Answer Speaks
Volumes." Profootballtalk. NBC Sports, 24 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

Te'o, Manti. "Manti Te'o Twitter." Twitter. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

"#Teoing." #Teoing. Tumblr, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.