re: Deadspin: Manti Te'o Dead Girlfriend Story a Hoax (now with drug dealers!)

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Swarbuck talked about this.

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Did he talk about the October 13 article in the South Bend newspaper which chronicles, in great detail, their first meeting in Palo Alto, California three years ago?

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But you are internet savvy as well as (presumably) socially apt IRL. Manti is probably neither.

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Exactly. People in this thread keep trying to show how Manti was 100% complicit in this be comparing their own social values to this case. We do not know how stupid or gullible he is. Of course 99.9% of us would never fall for something this ridiculous, but there are some REALLY dumb people in this world and it is plausible that Te'o just really is this stupid.

The question I have is what is worse in the public eye? Is it better to be the victim who could quite possibly be the dumbest, most gullible human being on Earth or a long-con artist that had a plan that almost worked to perfection by robbing the Heisman trophy. I think I would rather look evil than stupid but that is just me.

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No. Not false. Notre Dame actively promoted this story. If they were to come out and say Mantai Te'o concocted this scheme to gain sympathy and Heisman buzz, the Notre Dame athletic department's credibility and reputation would definitely take an enormous hit.

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They could easily just say they believed Te'o. Just like all of the media is doing. They weren't complicit. Nobody would really care. People might have a few jokes at ND's expense for a few days, but no damage whatsoever. By having Swarbrick come out the way he did yesterday, if Te'o's story didn't check out and Swarbrick still said it did, only bad things can come of it for ND.

He is not stupid

Did Swarbuck talk about this:

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On Dec. 8, Te'o gave Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune the following quote, which Hamilton shared on Twitter Wednesday:

"Manti Te'o on 12/8, 2 days after hoaxers call again: "I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer."

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LINK

Even if you believe the man was duped, once he learned he was duped, he continued to lie about it. And even after the Bama game he and Notre Dame allowed a fundraising drive in her name.

So he's that much of a lowlife to lie after he found out about it but too good of a guy to be part of this?

Not buying it.

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So this was AFTER the BCSNCG when ND and Te'o clearly knew the story was fake and they let this fundraising go on and even videoed the guy and posted it? Knowing the death was a hoax?

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Did you even read the link

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Tudesco said he doesn't know Te'o personally and had no contact with him or Notre Dame before setting up the fundraiser. He said money raised by his fundraiser will be held in reserve by indiegogo and released directly to the charity at the end of the campaign.

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Who on here is still supporting the theory that Te'o was a victim?

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I am not going to call him a victim, but I will say that it is plausible that he was duped into believing this chick was real. Either way, he definitely took it too far by playing up the relationship.

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What evidence can I show you to convince you otherwise?

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The only evidence that would solidify any argument, imo, would be the phone records or a confession from Te'o.

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Yeah, rather than just have a ND/SMC girl be in a relationship with him for a few months, he decided to completely make up a fake person?

I know Manti a little from two classes I had with him (first name basis, but not well enough to call him a friend), but talking to people on campus that knew him better/friends of mine on the team, they say he made his way around with the ladies. And it's not a secret on campus that he didn't exactly engage in sobriety 100 percent of the time, a big Mormon no-no.

Manti's a phony to the extent that his portrayal as a devout Mormon (emphasis on "devout") is just not true (I'd say he's more "spiritual" than "religious"), but he's not evil. He also puts on a quiet, humble, reserved, private front to the media, but he was always very outgoing and loud in class settings, and even when you watch him play, he does a lot of things for attention/to get the crowd involved. He still does a lot of good things and helps a lot of people, but his real personality is different than he lets on.

I do think he was duped and lied/exaggerated the relationship. He probably was disturbed and troubled this friend (should have never called her a girlfriend) died and then exaggerated details of the relationship, whether to avoid the embarrassment of saying that he never met this almost year-long "girlfriend", for sympathy, publicity, etc. But I can't see him being a complete jackass to go to the extreme to make someone up and fake her death, and I certainly can't see the university doing something so stupid as to stand behind him if they weren't sure his story mostly checked out

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This makes it worse IMO.

If he's out getting drunk and chasing tail then that nullifies the sheltered idiot hypothesis which is the center point in his hoax defense.

I am not telling you anything because I do not know what happened. If I had to guess he was complicity involved in this. I am definitely not being naive I am just looking at all the possible situations.

This is why I asked the previous question about when he first mentioned her. I can't seem to find that information.