kramer1
Sports betting savant
"I lost two, you know, women that I truly love," Te'o said after the game. "But I had my family around me, I had my football family around me, I had my girlfriend's football family around me. And at the end of the day families are forever. I'm going to see them again and it's going to be a very happy day when I do."
This was the start of the snowball that has now humiliated the 22-year-old.
I'm going to see them again, he said, which implies he saw both grandma and girlfriend before. In fact, he hadn't. It appears to be the precise moment that, publicly, at least, when Te'o inflated the relationship.
It got bigger. Much bigger. He later painted the picture of their first face-to-face meeting to the South Bend Tribune, Te'o "extend[ing] his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes."
[Pat Forde: I believe Manti Te'o was victim]
That didn't happen, either. There have been quotes from Te'o's father, who claimed Kekua visited Hawaii, which also wasn't true, because, of course, she didn't exist. There was talk of the colorful flowers sent to her funeral, which never occurred. Throughout the fall, as the media asked, Te'o gave the impression it was a traditional relationship, not one limited to online chats and phone calls.
Maybe he was embarrassed about that, and it motivated what he thought were white lies. Who wants to admit it was just chats and calls? Maybe once he spun it a little forward, he couldn't go back. Maybe we don't know. Te'o is expected to answer those questions this week, perhaps Thursday. In a statement, Te'o, currently training in Florida for the NFL draft, expressed disappointment at the entire ordeal.
This was the start of the snowball that has now humiliated the 22-year-old.
I'm going to see them again, he said, which implies he saw both grandma and girlfriend before. In fact, he hadn't. It appears to be the precise moment that, publicly, at least, when Te'o inflated the relationship.
It got bigger. Much bigger. He later painted the picture of their first face-to-face meeting to the South Bend Tribune, Te'o "extend[ing] his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes."
[Pat Forde: I believe Manti Te'o was victim]
That didn't happen, either. There have been quotes from Te'o's father, who claimed Kekua visited Hawaii, which also wasn't true, because, of course, she didn't exist. There was talk of the colorful flowers sent to her funeral, which never occurred. Throughout the fall, as the media asked, Te'o gave the impression it was a traditional relationship, not one limited to online chats and phone calls.
Maybe he was embarrassed about that, and it motivated what he thought were white lies. Who wants to admit it was just chats and calls? Maybe once he spun it a little forward, he couldn't go back. Maybe we don't know. Te'o is expected to answer those questions this week, perhaps Thursday. In a statement, Te'o, currently training in Florida for the NFL draft, expressed disappointment at the entire ordeal.