Was Manti Te’o Catfished? Could it happen to you?

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Jan 20, 2013 at 12:30 pm

Was Manto Te'o catfished or was he int he scam.

Manti Te’o Catfished or co-conspirator? (Photo: The Hollywood Gossip)

Was Manti Te’o Catfished?

Was Manti Te’o Catfished? Really” Catfished” ? Do you believe his story? Could it happen to you?

The term “Catfish” became popular after Nev Shulman filmed his documentary of the same name.

It was a documentary that was, at times, boring yet, at the same time, fascinating.

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Shulman was contacted by an alleged child prodigy on facebook.

From there, he quickly becomes acquainted with just about her entire family, although he had not met them personally. He became “involved’ with the kids beautiful sister. Long telephone conversations ensued. Gifts were exchanged and deep “feelings’ were expressed to one another.

After some doubts surfaced, Shulman embarks on a mission to find out the truth and ultimately discovers that the women he might have fallen “in love’ with, is not who she portrayed herself to be. Not at all. It was all built on lies.

Manti Te’o Catfished, victim or co-conspirator

With the ever growing popularity of on-line dating, and the mode of anonymity if offers, cases like this are bound to occur.

It’s hard for some to imagine how a person can claim to be totally involved with someone and consider them their boyfriend or girlfriend when they have not even met, however, it probably happens more frequently that we even know about.

Many people that have been “Catfished’ are likely embarrassed and just want to forget the whole episode and put it behind them so we don’t hear about it.

On the flip side, there are always self-promoters out there who want to take any type of opportunity to put the spotlight on themselves, which brings us to Manti Te’o.

Te’o is a young, nice looking kid of Samoan ancestry. He’s a 21-year-old college football linebacker at Notre Dame University who has shot to popularity not only because of his prowess on the field, but because he has allegedly been “Catfished’.

Was Manti Te’o Catfished?

Te’o says he believed a woman named Lennay Kekua was his girlfriend.

They talked on the phone for hours on end, shared intimate details of their lives with one another and kept in touch via social media. They were so close that he regularly spoke to her family members and she spoke to his. Lennay even called him, when he was in the locker room preparing for a game and spoke to his teammates too.

She was his girlfriend, although the two had never met

Manti Te’o suffers through family tragedies

Te’o’s grandmother died in September and tragically he got word that his girlfriend died the very same day of leukemia. He was so upset that he said,

So every morning when I wake up and my girlfriend is not on the phone it reminds me that she’s gone. That’s the hardest part for me. I go through it every day

He missed the girlfriend that he never visited in the hospital. The girlfriend he never met?

The girl that supposedly had a car accident and later became ill with leukemia? The girl who reportedly contacted him saying she faked her own death because of issues with drug dealers?

Yes, according to him, that’s who Manti Te’o missed.

He missed her so much, yet he never met her in person.

He said he never thought about meeting her. Hmm. Could Manti Te’o just be an incredibly selfish guy who simply had fun talking to someone and didn’t care whether he met that person or not? Whether they lived or died? That would seem to contradict his statement saying how broken up over her death he was.

What about Te’o’s other girlfriend? He was communicating with a real, live person named Alexandra del Pilar. TMZ has uncovered evidence that Te’o was communicating with Alexandra, casting doubt on Te’o’s credibility.

Manti Te’o has been getting a lot of press, and ensuing popularity, out of all of this.

But now we find out that it is all a hoax. Just one big elaborate hoax.

The million dollar question is was Was Manti Te’o Catfished or was he involved in the “elaborate hoax”?

Te’o has been making the media rounds, still getting publicity, although he has not gone on camera.

He’s been expected to be a top NFL pick for 2013 and go on to a great pro football career and it is unknown, at this time, if this “incident’ will help or hinder his career.

More and more stories are continuing to surface, each one adding new details, prompting more and people people to question whether Manti Te’o was just a victim, or if he was involved in some way. A co-conspirator.

He is, so far, denying it telling ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap,

There is no way I could be a part of this.

Te’o did admit to lying to his family saying that he had met Lennay Kekua in person, because he though it sounded “crazy” that he would be so involved with a woman he never met.

ESPN initially reported that Te’o said that a woman claiming to be Kekua showed up with a group of people at the team hotel before the BCS National Championship, but it later purportedly removed that detail from its story. Hmmm

Jeremy Schaap seems to wholeheartedly believe him.

Te’o now claims that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, someone that he knows, was behind the whole thing.

Could something like this happen to you? Could you really have a “relationship” with someone that is intense enough for you to consider them your boyfriend or girlfriend?

Even though you have never met?

Was Manti Te’o Catfished or was he a co-conspirator? Or was he just incredibly gullible.