Support NeoGAF

[perfectchaos007]

Lol, boy who cried wolf.



He may be telling the truth now, he may not be. But he has absolutely zero credibility. He himself has said he is a liar. How could someone possibly think be comes off as credible?

At least Lance Armstrong was a smart, intelligently devious liar. I can almost respect the lengths he went through to keep his secret for over a decade. Manti however, is just stupid. He's a liar too, and probably felt stupid for falling into the hoax, but he furthered his stupidity by deciding it would be best to further the hoax and continue carrying out the lie instead of admitting he had been catfished from the moment his dumbass realized he had been talking to a man for over 300 hours on the phone.

 

[Cloudy]

You know what, out of everything in this story, the fact that this hasn't happened yet is the most bizarre.

It's against the law to impersonate someone online in California. He could face big trouble

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Can't believe that people are just now realizing that he was telling the truth.

You're right, he was apparently telling the truth aside from the catastrophically massive amount of lies spoken to both his family and the national news media.........

 

[Future PhaZe]

It's against the law to impersonate someone online in California. He could face big trouble

If Manti is going to press charges he's going to press charges, might as well make money.

 

[yankeehater]

It's against the law to impersonate someone online in California. He could face big trouble

Didnt that law only go into effect this year? You cant retroactively apply laws.

 

[MIMIC]

You're right, he was apparently telling the truth aside from the catastrophically massive amount of lies spoken to both his family and the national news media.........

And despite all of that, it was still relatively simple to piece the story together. People exaggerate/lie out of embarrassment.

I was talking about him being the victim of a hoax.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

And despite all of that, it was still relatively simple to piece the story together. People exaggerate/lie out of embarrassment.

I was talking about him being the victim of a hoax.

The people thinking he was in on the hoax from the beginning seem to be a pretty small group to me; probably the people that just bought in solely on the "80%" comment from the one individual to Deadspin.

We still don't know that the lying/exaggeration was out of embarrassment and not ulterior motives.

 

[TJ Bennett]

Is it entirely out of the realm of possibility that Manti's team just sought out a girl to make those voicemails for him? I mean, haven't they had like, a week to come up with something?

I was thinking the exact same thing. These voicemails are probably as genuine as the spreadsheet they released yesterday.

 

[MIMIC]

Is it entirely out of the realm of possibility that Manti's team just sought out a girl to make those voicemails for him? I mean, haven't they had like, a week to come up with something?

This is a joke, right?

 

[gutshot]

This is a joke, right?

It's all a conspiracy, bro. ESPN is in on it, Notre Dame is in on it, Katie Couric is in on it. Only GAF knows the truth.

 

[effzee]

So even after he got a call from her saying she was alive he still thought she was dead, and he doesnt think he lied when he said she was dead after Dec 6th. He is still lying so it is impossible to believe anything he says.

This is one of the things I can understand. Not smart or something I would have done but lets put it this way:

• He just found out his dead girlfriend is alive.
• Not only is she alive but she was never his gf, but a dude pretending to be a girl
• He got tricked and embarrassed and he still doesn't really believe this happened
• He can't believe he was tricked and or that the girl talking to him now is the girl/boy he spoke to
• Decides to carry on the lie not knowing if its really a lie, a new prank, or that he has been the fool from the start

Again not smart, but of all the unexplained shit in this story, this one makes sense to me. Sad angry young man decides to keep it up for the national media worried that if it all comes out he will look like the fool he does now.

The stuff he can't answer for and makes no sense is the skype black box stuff. What the hell is a black box in this context? A dark room? Couldn't he ask her to turn the light up. He must have at least once asked her to masturbate to him on webcam as he did to her.

That and not going to see her in the hospital when supposedly she had cancer and was in a car crash. Oh and he was in the same state. Trains, busses, planes. 2012. Makes no sense why he wouldn't.

 

[MIMIC]

The people thinking he was in on the hoax from the beginning seem to be a pretty small group to me; probably the people that just bought in solely on the "80%" comment from the one individual to Deadspin.

Well I'm just going by the posts in this thread. Aside from being in on the hoax, so many OTHER crazy narratives were being seriously entertained.

We still don't know that the lying/exaggeration was out of embarrassment and not ulterior motives.

Know for certain? No. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise. For the most part, he seems like a decent individual. Not the brightest, but decent. I just don't get any bad vibes from him, and I would say that I'm a pretty good judge of character.

In this thread, I asked a while ago if Te'o was ever known for being a prankster or if people (like teammates, the media, past friends, etc) thought that he had a reputation for being a douche bag or a jerk or whatever.

I never got a response.

I just find it strange that people will immediately reach for (or invent) the strangest version of this story. I mean, as if it isn't already bizarre enough. Sometimes it's just as simple as it sounds.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Is it entirely out of the realm of possibility that Manti's team just sought out a girl to make those voicemails for him? I mean, haven't they had like, a week to come up with something?

I don't think so. Although it does kinda sound like a girl, you can still tell that it is a man either disguising his voice or using some type of app, especially on the first message.

 

[yankeehater]

In this thread, I asked a while ago if Te'o was ever known for being a prankster or if people (like teammates, the media, past friends, etc) thought that he had a reputation for being a douche bag or a jerk or whatever.

I never got a response.

There were several stories saying that his teammates thought he was a liar, and that he was hooking up with other girls the whole time he was supposedly in love with this girl.

 

[Saint Gregory]

I'm just going to throw this out there because maybe someone has a plausible explaination that I haven't considered.

Did RT have a dedicated phone line or cell phone just for his Lennay character? I've read reports were it's said that RT and Manti knew each other so either they didn't know each other well enough to exchange numbers or RT had another number just to be Lennay.

Also, if he didn't have a number only for his Lennay character how did he know how to answer his phone? There was no way for him to know for 100% of the time what numder Te'o or someone else expecting to speak with Lennay would call from so did he always answer as Lennay? What if he answered as himself and his voice got recognized since so many of the people he pranked knew him?

It's all a conspiracy, bro. ESPN is in on it, Notre Dame is in on it, Katie Couric is in on it. Only GAF knows the truth.

You really need to stop. No one that I've read in this thread has ever acted like all these entities planned this as a coverup. All people like me have tried to point out is that it's never out of the realm of possibility for the media to be used to get a specific message out to sway the public's perception about an issue. I could list the thousands of times stuff like that has happened throughout history but that would badly derail this thread.

 

[luckyboyceo]

This is a joke, right?

Not at all. Why wouldn't that be a realistic possibility? It'd be an extremely easy thing to do and certainly not the craziest thing a PR firm has done before.

The story just seemed unbelievable from the get go and it's only gotten more convoluted and weird since. I'm not trying to get all "it's a conspiracy bro!" on you guys, but it seems very logical that this could all be an elaborate attempt to either protect his future (draft stock) and/or conceal something about Manti whether that be his involvement in the hoax or something like his sexual orientation. To me, that sounds much more realistic than the possibility that Manti was really just this naive.

I don't think so. Although it does kinda sound like a girl, you can still tell that it is a man either disguising his voice or using some type of app, especially on the first message.

I don't know. I've listened to them a couple of times and they pretty damn convincing. I'd be fooled, that's for sure.

 

[cashman]

At this point I think that RT had a secret crush on Te'o and Te'o was too damn stupid to realize he was being duped, and when he found out he was too embarrassed to reveal that it was a lie.

Really the only thing that makes sense to me.

 

[dojokun]

At this point I think that RT had a secret crush on Te'o and Te'o was too damn stupid to realize he was being duped, and when he found out he was too embarrassed to reveal that it was a lie.

Really the only thing that makes sense to me.

I would be more open to that, but you have to be REALLY stupid to keep believing it when your girlfriend won't Skype/Facetime you with live video feed.

 

[ronito]

I would be more open to that, but you have to be REALLY stupid to keep believing it when your girlfriend won't Skype/Facetime you with live video feed.

Did they claim they didn't have a webcam? I mean that could be explained away fairly easily.

 

[alr1ght]

So he's extremely dumb and a pathological liar.

 

[yankeehater]

Did they claim they didn't have a webcam? I mean that could be explained away fairly easily.

No she had a webcam and said it was working and he didnt think about it.

 

[MIMIC]

Not at all. Why wouldn't that be a realistic possibility? It'd be an extremely easy thing to do and certainly not the craziest thing a PR firm has done before.

The story just seemed unbelievable from the get go and it's only gotten more convoluted and weird since. I'm not trying to get all "it's a conspiracy bro!" on you guys, but it seems very logical that this could all be an elaborate attempt to either protect his future (draft stock) and/or conceal something about Manti whether that be his involvement in the hoax or something like his sexual orientation. To me, that sounds much more realistic than the possibility that Manti was really just this naive.

That's exactly what it sounds like.

 

[dojokun]

That's exactly what it sounds like.

The conspiracies are just as plausible as a guy being dumb enough to fall for a hoax even after the "girl" wouldn't give a live video feed when Skyping.

Did they claim they didn't have a webcam? I mean that could be explained away fairly easily.

C'mon dude. Who doesn't have a webcam these days? It's no longer something you have to buy separately to own. Just about every laptop or smartphone made in the last few years has a built-in front-facing camera. And if you were video chatting with someone you met online and was online-dating, wouldn't you insist they remedy the lack of a webcam rather than just going along with it? It's not some random person, it's supposedly someone you LOVE. You wouldn't want to see them talk live? Lack of effort in trying to see her is not believable, especially when you add on the part about him not trying to visit her in the hospital.

 

[lenovox1]

No she had a webcam and said it was working and he didnt think about it.

Even Katie Couric looked incredulous after he tried to explain that to her. I mean, there's naive, and there's dumb, and then there is Manti Te'O. He is truly taking us to a different level. I would expect better social networking awareness out of an 8 year old.

 

[Cyan]

The conspiracies are just as plausible as a guy being dumb enough to fall for a hoax even after the "girl" wouldn't give a live video feed when Skyping.

He's a football player. It's perfectly believable that he's just that dumb.

 

[dojokun]

He's a football player. It's perfectly believable that he's just that dumb.

Football players are supposed to be book-dumb, not lacking in street smarts.

lenovox1 puts it perfectly (right above you):

Even Katie Couric looked incredulous after he tried to explain that to her. I mean, there's naive, and there's dumb, and then there is Manti Te'O. He is truly taking us to a different level. I would expect better social networking awareness out of an 8 year old.

 

[luckyboyceo]

The conspiracies are just as plausible as a guy being dumb enough to fall for a hoax even after the "girl" wouldn't give a live video feed when Skyping.

Pretty much this. Maybe I've been spoiled by my time on the internet but I find it harder to believe that someone could really be this stupid in today's world of communication. It just doesn't add up.

He's a football player. It's perfectly believable that he's just that dumb.

This isn't even an issue of book smarts vs. street smarts, these are just precautions that anyone even thinking about dating in the online world would consider.

 

[Saint Gregory]

He's a football player. It's perfectly believable that he's just that dumb.

As a former football player I take offense to that.

 

[MIMIC]

The conspiracies are just as plausible as a guy being dumb enough to fall for a hoax even after the "girl" wouldn't give a live video feed when Skyping.

You really are over-thinking this.

I mean, haven't you ever "fell" for something, only to be surprised at how ridiculous it was?

Hell, there are past threads on this very forum where people fell for fake news stories.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

He's a football player. It's perfectly believable that he's just that dumb.

Chris Kluwe's gonna come in here and style on you!

 

[alr1ght]

You really are over-thinking this.

I mean, haven't you ever "fell" for something, only to be surprised at how ridiculous it was?

Hell, there are past threads on this very forum where people fell for fake news stories.

This went on for multiple years. He brought it up to the media. I still find it very very suspicious that someone could be that dumb.

 

[dojokun]

You really are over-thinking this.

I mean, haven't you ever "fell" for something, only to be surprised at how ridiculous it was?

Hell, there are past threads on this very forum where people fell for fake news stories.

Yes, but nothing I've fallen for, or heard of other people falling for, are/were anywhere near half-way to the extent of how lacking in street smarts Manti Te'o would have to be.

 

[knicks]

You really are over-thinking this.

I mean, haven't you ever "fell" for something, only to be surprised at how ridiculous it was?

Hell, there are past threads on this very forum where people fell for fake news stories.

And we realize minutes afterwards how unbelievable ridiculous and stupid it is. This lasted years. A 21 year old man. No excuses.

 

[Spectral Glider]

The conspiracies are just as plausible as a guy being dumb enough to fall for a hoax even after the "girl" wouldn't give a live video feed when Skyping.

C'mon dude. Who doesn't have a webcam these days? It's no longer something you have to buy separately to own. Just about every laptop or smartphone made in the last few years has a built-in front-facing camera. And if you were video chatting with someone you met online and was online-dating, wouldn't you insist they remedy the lack of a webcam rather than just going along with it? It's not some random person, it's supposedly someone you LOVE. You wouldn't want to see them talk live? Lack of effort in trying to see her is not believable, especially when you add on the part about him not trying to visit her in the hospital.

Yeah, Teo's bullshit story might fly if it was 1999 and the fucker was still on dial up, but in 2013 none of the crap he's selling makes any sense. He's already admitted he's lied for part of the story....and we're not talking lied just to a couple of his buddies or to his parents, we're talking balls out lying on TV and in print. That's enough for me to say, fuck you, I don't care what else you have to say about this. Go home, take a hike, get lost whatever, but keep off my TV and computer screens from now on, I'm done with you.

 

[effzee]

Not at all. Why wouldn't that be a realistic possibility? It'd be an extremely easy thing to do and certainly not the craziest thing a PR firm has done before.

The story just seemed unbelievable from the get go and it's only gotten more convoluted and weird since. I'm not trying to get all "it's a conspiracy bro!" on you guys, but it seems very logical that this could all be an elaborate attempt to either protect his future (draft stock) and/or conceal something about Manti whether that be his involvement in the hoax or something like his sexual orientation. To me, that sounds much more realistic than the possibility that Manti was really just this naive.


I don't know. I've listened to them a couple of times and they pretty damn convincing. I'd be fooled, that's for sure.

Assuming he was even behind the hoax from the start, now that he is caught he wouldn't go to the lengths of faking a voicemail now to prove to the media he wasn't involved.

For one he knows the whole world is now watching and investigating. If he wasn't smart enough to pull of the hoax of an imaginary GF why would he or a PR firm for that matter risk going for broke by making up voicemails? This is conspiracy land you are venturing into.

He might be dumb enough to come up with this hoax or be fooled by one but now that his lawyers, a PR firm, and the media are around him 24/7 I doubt he or anyone advising him would be dumb enough to come up with fake tapes.

Besides that would be the behavior of a criminal and while what he did is extremely dumb he isn't a criminal.

 

[knicks]

I love all of these images and screenshots of texts and tweets getting released now. The picture of the girl with the date is the best. Am I the only one who believes all of these things were done after he got caught with all of this? Why would this girl hold a sign with the date December 6th/21st whatever it was? LOL So full of shit, it is hilarious. More and more images and such are getting released now. More things are getting created as we speak.

 

[dojokun]

I want to add that although I don't currently buy into the theory of Manti Te'o truly being this lacking in street smarts, I also don't have an alternate theory that doesn't have its own problems. Like, the idea of him being in on the hoax from the beginning is also weird because it was way before he was considered for any prominent awards, so there's a huge lack of incentive.

 

[Saint Gregory]

You really are over-thinking this.

I mean, haven't you ever "fell" for something, only to be surprised at how ridiculous it was?

Hell, there are past threads on this very forum where people fell for fake news stories.

Just to add to the other responses you also have to consider that fact that Te'o is a player on one of the most high profile college teams in sports. There could be any number of people out there waiting to take advantage and exploit these guys either for personal gain or to embarrass the player or the program yet we're supposed to believe that this never crossed Te'o's mind over the course of three years.

By the way, did we ever find out whether or not those FB posts froma few pages back were real or fake? If they're real they kind of cast doubt on anyone who's says that he was too dumb to suspect anything.

 

[Cyan]

I want to add that although I don't currently buy into the theory of Manti Te'o truly being this lacking in street smarts, I also don't have an alternate theory that doesn't have its own problems. Like, the idea of him being in on the hoax from the beginning is also weird because it was way before he was considered for any prominent awards, so there's a huge lack of incentive.

Pathological liar still fits.

Just not if the phone records etc are accurate.

 

[MIMIC]

Yes, but nothing I've fallen for, or heard of other people falling for, are/were anywhere near half-way to the extent of how lacking in street smarts Manti Te'o would have to be.

People fall for dumb, unbelievable shit all the time. It's only in hindsight do people say "LOL I can't believe he fell for that".

That's exactly what's going on now (and what has happened in every single thread in which people were duped). The people who were duped are the dumbest people on the planet and the people who come to the thread after the fact get to talk about how there is no way they could have fallen for such a thing. But for some reason, when it happens to YOU (I'm speaking in general), it's supposedly no where near as stupid as when other people fell for all sorts of other things.

I find the lack of empathy to be a little unsettling.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

People fall for dumb, unbelievable shit all the time. It's only in hindsight do people say "LOL I can't believe he fell for that".

That's exactly what's going on now (and what has happened in every single thread in which people were duped). The people who were duped are the dumbest people on the planet and the people who come to the thread after the fact get to talk about how there is no way they could have fallen for such a thing. But for some reason, when it happens to YOU (I'm speaking in general), it's supposedly no where near as stupid as when other people fell for all sorts of other things.

I find the lack of empathy to be a little unsettling.

I agree that anyone can be an idiot about one thing or another. Everyone has "blind spots". But this really, really is an outlying case. Years, man. YEARS.

 

[lenovox1]

By the way, did we ever find out whether or not those FB posts froma few pages back were real or fake? If they're real they kind of cast doubt on anyone who's says that he was too dumb to suspect anything.

In the Couric interview, she brought up different screenshots of a different person he asked. He admitted that he asked all kinds of people about Lenay, and said that they all sort of vouched for her. He implied that he never really questioned her existence after that, and I rolled my eyes.

 

[dojokun]

People fall for dumb, unbelievable shit all the time. It's only in hindsight do people say "LOL I can't believe he fell for that".

That's exactly what's going on now (and what has happened in every single thread in which people were duped). The people who were duped are the dumbest people on the planet and the people who come to the thread after the fact get to talk about how there is no way they could have fallen for such a thing. But for some reason, when it happens to YOU (I'm speaking in general), it's supposedly no where near as stupid as when other people fell for all sorts of other things.

I find the lack of empathy to be a little unsettling.

It's not like we haven't tried to give some benefit of the doubt. But not all duping is equal. If you met someone online and got into a relationship with them, wouldn't you want to see them talking to you live? It's believable that he buys the "no webcam" excuse for a little bit, but not for YEARS. Add that to his lack of trying to see her when she was dying in the hospital, because she made him promise not to? It's way beyond the level of stupidity I've ever heard of when looking back to all the other stories of people being duped.

EDIT: Beaten by Joe Shlabotnik.

 

[effzee]

I think at this point all theories have some big inconsistencies that people can bring up.

Whether he was in on it from the start, found out about it later and kept it up, or had no clue at all...there are events and questions that can't fit into any of them.

Truly the greatest mystery of our times.

 

[JustProgress]

People fall for dumb, unbelievable shit all the time. It's only in hindsight do people say "LOL I can't believe he fell for that".

That's exactly what's going on now (and what has happened in every single thread in which people were duped). The people who were duped are the dumbest people on the planet and the people who come to the thread after the fact get to talk about how there is no way they could have fallen for such a thing. But for some reason, when it happens to YOU (I'm speaking in general), it's supposedly no where near as stupid as when other people fell for all sorts of other things.

I find the lack of empathy to be a little unsettling.

Hard to be empathetic for someone this stupid.

 

[gutshot]

Why does everyone keep saying this lasted for years? It was just under a year, with the most intense contact lasting a few months.

 

[spindashing]

No she had a webcam and said it was working and he didnt think about it.

Wait. Seriously? If true...jeez...

 

[Saint Gregory]

In the Couric interview, she brought up different screenshots of a different person he asked. He admitted that he asked all kinds of people about Lenay, and said that they all sort of vouched for her. He implied that he never really questioned her existence after that, and I rolled my eyes.

I guess if he's completely detached from reality this could all make sense. I honestly feel sorry for him regardless of what the real truth turns out to be.

Why does everyone keep saying this lasted for years? It was just under a year, with the most intense contact lasting a few months.

Because he says he met her in 2009 and the FB post we were talking about shows he was asking someone about her as early as 2010.

 

[dojokun]

Why does everyone keep saying this lasted for years? It was just under a year, with the most intense contact lasting a few months.

I think they met years ago and the relationship itself was just under a year. But even looking at the timeframe of just under a year, it's still too long to go without seeing someone talk to you live on Skype / Facetime when you believe you two have mutual strong feelings for each other..

 

[dojokun]

I think at this point all theories have some big inconsistencies that people can bring up.

Whether he was in on it from the start, found out about it later and kept it up, or had no clue at all...there are events and questions that can't fit into any of them.

Truly the greatest mystery of our times.

Yes this is how I feel.