I'm sure the interview did not change anyone's mind, although I sense from kp's post-interview comments above that he got his questions answered. He showed that he is not a man of steel, that at a critical juncture - in his own words - he was scared and did not know what to do or say. I believe him. What gets lost in this mess of a story is that he is a 21 year old kid, not even a man yet. There are those who will say that's not so, but IMO his culture of faith and family has slowed his development toward manhood, unlike the secular and street-wise world in which most young student-athletes are raised. For me, in the midst of adversity that he did not originate, his character and that of his family has shone through. As far as I am concerned, he is a good kid who, despite his on-field success, was naive and vulnerable. For a long time to come, he will be subjected to taunts and ridicule, but his foundation of family and faith will provide him with the strength to endure whatever happens. My admiration for him and his family has increased since the beginning of this debacle. In my eyes, he remains a role model and by far one of the greatest athletes ever to wear a Notre Dame uniform. I wish him well in the future.
I saw the Couric interview and really......it remains a mystery as to why he was enamored with these conversations with a girl that he had never met....never spent time with. I suspect it would take several hours with Dr. Phil before even Manti himself could figure out what he personally was about. Extremely naive? Gullible? Afraid of women ( unknowingly )....... Did this possibly affect his play vs. Bama? Maybe.....but ND was so dominated you couldn't say he could have made any difference. What he does going forward in the combines and player interviews and personality/intelligence tests will go a lot farther toward determining his draft status than any of this..... with the possible exception of his poor play vs. the NFL type backs of the Tide. That failure is probably a smudge on his NFL rap sheet at present.
I will say this much. As recently as one month ago the combines were just an exercise for Teo. Now I would say a great performance there is a necessity.
Everyone is such a rush to define what this is and was. Anyone who didn't marry their high school sweetheart, when giving a review of the women (or men) they dated, most assuredly would have entire segments of their past that could be labeled 'I have no idea what the hell I was thinking.' The fact is, there were thousands, literally, of articles written about this before all the facts were in. This, more than anything, represents a condemnation of what 'journalism' has become in this day and age of social media. We don't have news reports anymore, we just have a few hundreds jackasses screaming 'fire' and then commenting on which ways the crowd flows. Again, aside from those of you who married your high school sweetheart, there's not a one of you who could survive such scrutiny when applied to every relationship that you've had in your life. Most everyone has at least one or two truly 'WTF' moments. Full disclosure, I've read Deadspin for years now. I don't always agree with their perspective, but they do a decent job of bringing superficial items to light and from there an interesting story usually develops. They are, by no means, ever to be considered a source. Their hatchet job on Te'o goes beyond reporting. It's quite clear that this is an attack on Te'o and that is a sad statement about them. This is why that Reddit and other source aggregate programs do not consider Gawker to be reliable. Their stubborn refusal to admit that anything they initially reported might possibly be incorrect has painted them forever. They're just a tabloid with funny pictures now. For guys who allege to be so learned and intelligent, you'd think they'd be familiar with the Socratic quote "I know nothing, except for the fact of my ignorance." Sadly, it appears their arrogance trumps their intellect. We'll see how this pans out for Te'o. We have the public and private images of a young man who, up until this point, paints a certain picture of talent and character with the latter being in equal or greater abundance to the former. Now, we have this picture that somehow has cast a shadow over the rest. This story is ongoing. Let's see how this pans out.
I will confess to this Corey. Every girl I have ever been involved with, every one, I actually saw and touched. Check away all you like. 8)
George, we are of the age of pre-internet dating. We had to see and touch... there was no other choice! :wink:
Do you guys remember when a few years ago a BYU basketball player admitted to having sex once or twice with his girl friend and was kicked off the team for violating the school policy on pre-marital sex? Manti is mormon.
sigh... You never dated a woman who was two timing you, or using you to two time on someone else? Never dated a woman or was propositioned by one who turned out to be married? Never dated one that had and concealed a problem with substance abuse? Never dated one that may have hidden their bisexuality? Never dated one with any wild kinks or fetishes? Never dated one that was a habitual liar? Never dated one who made up who she was, who she knew or what she's done? I'm going to go ahead and say a few of you have dated at least one on that list. Now, imagine everyone for attacking you for the short comings or misdeeds of that other person. That's exactly what's going on. I make fun and laugh openly at all sorts of messed up things. I find absolutely no humor in this at all. I appreciate the sarcasm to have a bit of fun with this. Initially, honestly, I entertained the notion that this was a beard and that Manti was gay. There's a bit of humor in that. However, within 48 hours it was clear that wasn't the case at all. Worse than that, the group who 'broke' this story (spoiler, they didn't break it. Several folks including media organizations knew of this and were moving at a slower pace because, well, they're professionals. This story was shopped though for weeks) has a clear agenda. Their entire reason for doing this (Deadspin in case you're confused) was to bring light on the 'sham' that is Notre Dame and additionally to bring light to the Lizzy Seeburg story. If you don't see that, you're either not paying attention or not as sharp as you think you are. I know a lot of Mormons. From my 30+ years experience in dealing with Mormons, there are two types when they are young. The wild, whoring, yet presentable come church time Mormons.. and the virgin, naive, true in their path types. I've never met an exception, ever. (If you guys remember my teams in Ontario, you might be interested to know that no fewer than 30% of any of my rosters were made up of Mormons). At first the guy was attacked for being naive, socially awkward and rather innocent in terms of relations with the fairer sex because no one would believe it. Then, it turns out to be most likely the case. Now, he's being attacked for being those things. I'm not sure where we are as a society that actually condemns someone for being fairly virtuous. The guy, at worst, is guilty of telling his father a lie that snowballed and he couldn't get out from underneath it. By all means, go ahead and cast the first stone if you've not done that. I'll never believe you, but by all means chuck away.
I so desperately want to forget this whole sorry mess but Corey keeps dragging us back in. I never dated a real girl as long as Teo dated a make-believe girl. But let's forget that . The issue here is that the once the "girlfriend" became public it was in the context of her illness and it quickly became a PR angle which morphed into a major story of the past season. That's the only thing thatmade it noteworthy because for two years prior her name never came up in any context that I am aware of. Teo, the university and the media latched onto this and rode it out until the Deadspin piece. Whether he wanted to publicize this "girlfriend" or not is debatable but once it was public he did nothing to stop it and it was by then in the public domain. I'm all for forgetting it.
Yeah.....I thinks it time to let go. You folks have now surpassed the "Notre Dame Bowl Season" and "The Championship Game" topics. You are also creeping towards overtaking the "Andy Jaskewicz Pic 'Em" contest topic....and that started last July.
FYI, He 'dated' her for a 4 month period.. If you had read up on it. He had 'known' her for much longer, but they only became an item the last 4 months. I'm sure you'll have no trouble forgetting the story, you don't even know it.
Guys, I have not chimed in on this topic because, as a Tennessee fan, it's none of my business. However, from an outsider looking in, I could not resist posting what I just found from one of my car club buddies:
Yeah most people I know who are not ND fans pretty much can't believe that a college football player would have an online girlfriend that he'd never met. Even if they want to give Manti the benefit of the doubt with regards to was he a victim of a hoax or not they just can't get by the whole girlfriend he'd never met thing. And the "lies" he told about meeting her make him a liar.