The girlfriend whose death turned Manti Te’o into college football’s most inspiring story of the season never existed.
The Notre Dame linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist told the country that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, died of leukemia in September, just hours after his grandmother passed away. Days later, he led Notre Dame to a win over Michigan State, and the story of him playing through heartbreak was everywhere: Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS and the South Bend Tribune. He talked about her asking for white flowers at her funeral and the last words they shared.
On Wednesday, Deadspin revealed it was all a hoax. There was no record of Lennay Kekua anywhere. Not at Stanford, where she was supposed to have gone to school, not in any hospital and not in any obituary. According to Deadspin’s sources, the online persona was created by a man Te’o knew, and Te’o wasn’t the first person to have an online “relationship” with her.
The details never lined up either. Reports had them meeting in person after a Stanford game, visiting each other in Hawaii and talking on the phone every night. If she never existed, who was on the other end of those calls?
Te’o and Notre Dame both say he was fooled. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the school learned of the hoax in December, hired investigators and concluded Te’o was the victim. Te’o called it “incredibly embarrassing” and said he had been the victim of “what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies.”
Not everyone is buying it. If Te’o was fooled, it’s a heartbreaking story. If he knew and let the story grow during a Heisman campaign, it’s a much bigger problem. Either way, one of the most talked about stories in college football this season was built on a woman who never existed.
