Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jonboy79
Another plausible explanation of why he could be involved...
The long-distance GF thing sut screams of me as something one would say to get the boys off his back for not scoring with chicks at parties.
Teo is a mormon as I understand it. There could be some legs to this idea you have put forth. Nobody likes to feel different. It could have been a little white lie concocted with friends to give him an excuse to not partake in some of the activities that others do rather than just simply saying I am not down with that. That little lie may have spun out of control eventually leading to were we are now.
Honestly this thing is more about tearing down a guy that was built up (something we love to do as a society) than anything else. Its not like he ran a foundation to help a person who never existed. He did not father a child out of wedlock, did not lie under oath, did not get caught doing drugs, paying hookers or hanging out with gangbangers. At worst he told a lie that spun out of control and did an extremely poor job of managing the fallout.
I think its sad that in a society with so many inequities, so many issue and problems to solve that this is what so many people are worried about. Outside of this incident which to this point I see no illegality to, this kid seems like a decent and kind person. If we are going to condemn every person who has ever told a lie and had it spin out of control, well there will be very few of us who are not condemned. Myself included. The key is to learn and to move forward and not repeat the mistake. I tend to think Teo will do this based on his character prior to this story.
I know I will get flack for saying this but someone please explain to me how Teo lying about a girlfriend is more of a story than an established defensive player of the year (Suggs) allegedly smacking his significant other around? I am not saying Suggs did that...just saying it was alleged and speculated about just as MUCH of this is speculation and allegation at this point. That story got just a minuscule percentage of the attention this has gotten. That says something to me about our priorities. I love Suggs the player, I would not advocate the Ravens drop him. I would advocate if true he gets the counseling he needs. Why should Teo be any different. Even if he knowingly lied about this stuff in an effort to save himself embarrassment at worst the kid needs some counseling on how better to handle these types of situations. I find it sad that so many find so much glee in tearing down a kid who seems to be trying to do his best to be a decent person but made a huge and embarrassing mistake.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
The previous PFT story seemed more opinion than anything...
But here's a fact: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...ied-of-cancer/
Maybe he was just trying to keep up the story because he was still processing the hoax and all, but this is a record of him, two days after the hoax was fessed up to him, saying his girlfriend died of cancer.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HoustonRaven
Delaware's QB, Tim Donnelly, was on The Junkies this morning. He knew Te'o in High School.
He is saying that Te'o had a "girlfriend" all through high school that nobody ever saw and who Te'o claimed lived in another state.
Segment 9 of today's podcast.
Which could lend credence to the idea that this was his method of dealing with peer pressure related to some activities we all know many football players engage in. Not the best way to handle it and maybe it just all went sideways on him.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HoustonRaven
Deadspin, not SI.
No, I meant the SI piece is one of the examples of where the story started to spin out of control.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoustonRaven
Not if he's facing fraud charges, which is why I think the money matters. The conclusion to the money angle will decide if he's the victim or will be in a courtroom come draft time.
I'm not saying there *won't* be a money trail. I just don't think this is necessarily about money.
I did have another idea rattling around in my head, which is why I hinted at it with my reference to why he might want a fake girl to establish "machismo," but I was reluctant to state it bluntly.
Jonboy, however, was not so shy as I was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jonboy79
I think Te'o is gay, and this story was a cover-up.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
Polynesian culture? How about *football* culture?!
I 100% guarantee you there are people reading these words right now thinking "I've seen that guy play. He's a beast! He can't be gay! Gay men are [generalization]!"
Anyway. I hope he's ok. I don't think there's anything truly sinister going on here. I doubt anybody set out to hurt anybody else, and I think what Robert Irvine did was worse because he was motivated by greed.
I could be completely wrong but I think Te'o is responsible for this hoax and it was a response to some kind of social pressure. I am going to guess what happens next is he won't discuss it any more, and it will quiet down, and some team will draft him because he haz skillz.
It should have been blown up by the sports media early on, but investigative journalism is basically dead, so that wasn't going to happen. God bless the reporters out there actually digging for stories, but there are not enough of them to do the digging. You make a *lot* more money being Skip Bayless, who is perfectly happy to be paid to be controversial and wrong. It's less work and more money for the network and for the talking head. Win/win, unless you count what happened to Te'o, and then realize maybe we (and he, in a way) are the losers.
Ah well. It's a rising tide, and complaining won't make it go down.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
In a nation thats 3-4% gay you have to assume that theres at least a few out of 2000 NFL players that is gay, even if its below average that still translate to a few just by odds. If it comes down to that, I really wish for his own sake hed just learn to be himself. Sad, but wouldnt be the first person to lie to cover up a gay lifestyle.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ActualSpamBot
I remember thinking the fake girlfriend might be a beard as I was reading the story. Between Mormon family, Catholic school, football culture, and Polynesian values, he has a massive MASSIVE amount of cultural baggage coercing him to conform.
Heck, I wonder if the alleged "Hoaxster" who was always meeting Teo in places the fake girlfriend was supposed to is or was Teo's actual significant other. It sorta makes sense. Have your secret boyfriend make a twitter account of a female, now you two can flirt and tweet and chat all you want and no one blinks.
I doubt the truth will ever come out, but if it turns out he's really simply the victim OR this was a desperate attempt to stay in the closet out of shame, I would be fine with the Ravens selecting him.
The more this things sits around and he says nothing, the more I am starting to think it's either this or he's an attention whore. I'll still give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but it's getting harder.
I'll say this, if he comes out and says he's gay (and actually is) this whole thing goes away.
Re: Manti Te'o hoax (wth?!?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NCRAVEN
I'll say this, if he comes out and says he's gay (and actually is) this whole thing goes away.
I agree. Just tell the truth and end the drama.