Sports
Manti Te’o Hopes To Be An Inspiration Even After Being A Victim Of A Catfishing Hoax
(CTN News) – In 2012, Manti Te’o was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate with a bright future in the NFL. His talent wasn’t the only thing that caught the attention of others.
Manti Te’o told the story of a girl who died from leukemia.
Everything was perfect until it all fell apart. Deadspin revealed Manti Te’o was the victim of catfishing – using a false identity to lure someone into a relationship using social media.
Lennay Kekua was a social media creation of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who has since come out as trans and identifies as Naya Tuiasosopo.
As part of the Netflix documentary “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist,” which premiered Tuesday, Manti Te’o and Tuiasosopo explain how a story that started so sweetly twisted into something so bizarre, making Te’o the target of jokes and ridiculing major outlets like Sports Illustrated, ESPN and the New York Times.
On Deadspin, Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey revealed the story, along with a headline that called it a hoax. Is this the chance to make ESPN look stupid??? Dickey asked in the documentary. The purpose of our trip was to do just that.”
Despite dealing with anxiety and being the subject of jokes on a national stage, Manti Te’o had a seven-year NFL career with the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, and Chicago Bears.
In order to cope with that anxiety, he sought the advice of a therapist, who advised him to forgive himself. During the documentary, Te’o said his therapist told him, “You have to forgive him.”.
You are not responsible for what happened to you. There’s nothing to worry about. That kid needs to be forgiven.”
He said he takes heart from the support he received. Te’o is now a 31-year-old NFL free agent.
There are going to be hundreds and thousands and millions of people who are going to tell you, “You ain’t worth nothing, man.
” He continued, “but there’s going to be one who will tell you, “You’re worth the world to me,” and I play for that person. All the jokes, all the memes, I will take them all so that I can be an inspiration to the one who needs me to be an inspiration.”
Te’o was a talented young player who came from a family that stressed faith as well as football in their home in Honolulu in September 2012.
As a result of his breakout season at Notre Dame, he became a national star who tells the story of how, within a six-hour span, he learned about the death of his grandmother and then his grandmother’s husband.
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