Where Do We Go From Here?
Daytime talk show hosts return to
their regularly scheduled programming. Sports fans return to a more normal news cycle. And Te'o returns to
the football field.
The potential first-round draft pick
spent the rest of January in Florida
preparing for his upcoming trip to the
NFL Combine on Feb. 23. Te'o's high
value is based largely on his intangible qualities. Several analysts speculated that the hoax might hurt his draft
status. Mike Mayock, who covers the
draft for NFL Network and provides
color commentary on NBC for Irish
home games, said that remains to be
seen.
"At some point, [NFL owners are]
going to get a feel for all the facts.
They're going to have an opportunity
to spend time with the kid, and they're
going to have a chance to see whether
or not they like the kid face-to-face
and trust the kid. That's just going to
play out over time."
In the meantime, Te'o seems to have
Jan. 16, 2013 — Deadspin.com
breaks the story about Kekua's
real identity and suggests Te'o was
involved to some degree. Irish athletics director Jack Swarbrick
stands behind Te'o in a press conference later that night.
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no interest in pursuing any legal action against Tuiasosopo, which would
prolong the shelf life of an embarrassment for him and his family. He and
his coaches hope the bizarre story will
eventually become just a footnote on
his legacy at Notre Dame.
"I think Manti will be remembered
as a great leader on our football team
— on an undefeated team at Notre
Dame," head coach Brian Kelly said.
"He'll be, in my eyes, one of the very
great teammates that I've ever had in
22 years of coaching. He was just special to coach."
Why Did We All
Get So Invested?
The Te'o hoax joined the rare air of
stories such as O.J. Simpson's murder trial and Nancy Kerrigan's locker
room attack as a tale that jumped from
the sports pages to the front page and
eventually to the gossip columns. But
Te'o was different in that no human
beings, real ones anyway, were physically harmed and no laws were bro-
