Manti Te’o documentary (Netflix)

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Anyone catch this 2-part series yet? I watched it last night, it’s pretty gut wrenching actually. Completely changes your perspective on how that all went down. I legitimately feel bad for being seeing it in such a humorous light 10 years ago.

That has to be one of the most elaborate, well-executed catfish scams of all time.

 

[Hoosier_Vol]

Going to watch it with my girlfriend!

 

[05_never_again]

I haven't seen the doc yet, so maybe it will change my mind, but I think Te'o was in on it in some way. There is just no way a reasonably good-looking, elite, well-known football player for Notre freaking Dame was genuinely fooled by someone impersonating a girl online. It isn't like he had limited options. Usually, people who get duped by that sort of thing are really young and impressionable, or really naive, socially awkward outcast types. At the very least, he was being disingenuous about the relationship he had with "Lennay Kekua" - their relationship was entirely online/he had never met her, but he neglected to mention that. He also had received a phone call from the woman he knew as Lennay Kekua, saying that she was still alive, but he kept talking about her death to the media for weeks after that.

Perhaps he was genuinely catfished initially, and then by the time he figured out he had been tricked, the media knew about his "girlfriend" so he went along with it to avoid embarrassment. Regardless, somebody other than the guy pulling the hoax knew what was going on and gave an anonymous tip to Deadspin.

 

[nickp91]

That Manti Te’o documentary was crazy

 

[VolunteerVandiver]

Dude is just wildly gullible, I think.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Totally forgot about Manti and his blow up doll.

 

[bamawriter]

The documentary was okay. But I think it was so focused on how it affected Te'o that it missed the two real stories.

The first story was touched on a little bit by the guys from Deadspin, which is how the media bought this BS without doing even cursory fact checking. They parroted this false story for months and got scooped by a glorified blog.

The second wasn't touched at all, which is all the lying that Te'o and his family did. If the producers put those lies in front of Te'o or his parents, then they chose not to air any of it. The most glaring of those lies is Te'o and his dad both claiming to have met the girl. At least they were quoted in multiple publications as having done so. I can only assume that the Te'os only agreed to participate if those topics weren't on the table.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

The documentary was okay. But I think it was so focused on how it affected Te'o that it missed the two real stories.

The first story was touched on a little bit by the guys from Deadspin, which is how the media bought this BS without doing even cursory fact checking. They parroted this false story for months and got scooped by a glorified blog.

The second wasn't touched at all, which is all the lying that Te'o and his family did. If the producers put those lies in front of Te'o or his parents, then they chose not to air any of it. The most glaring of those lies is Te'o and his dad both claiming to have met the girl. At least they were quoted in multiple publications as having done so. I can only assume that the Te'os only agreed to participate if those topics weren't on the table.

The story itself was odd and quite frankly not very interesting from what I recall. If the ILB from San Jose State did the same thing, then no one would have cared.

 

[Firebirdparts]

I thought you were gonna say that the real story was how he was so overhyped as a player. I guess he did fine in the NFL. I don't doubt that you get a boost if the media believes your girlfriend died. I still remember, all these years later, in the 2012 Championship game, somebody posted/Youtube/something a drinking game in which one of the rules was "Every time Mante Teo misses a tackle you take a shot".

 

[bamawriter]

The story itself was odd and quite frankly not very interesting from what I recall. If the ILB from San Jose State did the same thing, then no one would have cared.

Agreed. But because it's Notre Dame, the media made it the biggest story of the season. That a young guy lied about his relationship is not shocking. That the whole of the national media (this was way bigger than a sports story) ran with it for four months is astounding.

 

[BowlBrother85]

The first story was touched on a little bit by the guys from Deadspin, which is how the media bought this BS without doing even cursory fact checking. They parroted this false story for months and got scooped by a glorified blog.

At the very least, this ridiculous story exposed an unprofessional journalist named Pete Thamel (formerly of Sports Illustrated; now with yahoo! sports) for the lazy hack that he is.

THE FULL MANTI

^^^ Try to read this Sports Illustrated article from October 1, 2012 without laughing. I can't do it. ^^^

... and if the name Pete Thamel rings a bell, he is the guy who agreed to help John Currie "sell" Greg Schiano to the Tennessee fan base in 2017. He has frequently attacked Tennessee fans ever since ...

Takeaways: What should Tennessee's punishment be for ugly scene in Knoxville?

 

[BowlBrother85]

Agreed. But because it's Notre Dame, the media made it the biggest story of the season. That a young guy lied about his relationship is not shocking. That the whole of the national media (this was way bigger than a sports story) ran with it for four months is astounding.

I agree. I haven't watched the documentary, and I probably won't, but I am curious ... Do they interview Pete Thamel? I'm guessing that he didn't have the guts to agree to an interview.

 

[bamawriter]

I agree. I haven't watched the documentary, and I probably won't, but I am curious ... Do they interview Pete Thamel? I'm guessing that he didn't have the guts to agree to an interview.

The only media reps in the doc are the two (former) Deadspin guys who broke the story and NBC's sideline reporter. Other media figures are shown in clips, but none were interviewed for the piece. It's a real oversight on the part of the producers.

I honestly wouldn't bother watching it. It adds very little to the story.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

At the very least, this ridiculous story exposed an unprofessional journalist named Pete Thamel (formerly of Sports Illustrated; now with yahoo! sports) for the lazy hack that he is.

THE FULL MANTI

^^^ Try to read this Sports Illustrated article from October 1, 2012 without laughing. I can't do it. ^^^

... and if the name Pete Thamel rings a bell, he is the guy who agreed to help John Currie "sell" Greg Schiano to the Tennessee fan base in 2017. He has frequently attacked Tennessee fans ever since ...

Takeaways: What should Tennessee's punishment be for ugly scene in Knoxville?

I was under the impression that Wolken was the guy that was back channeling with Currie.

 

[05_never_again]

I was under the impression that Wolken was the guy that was back channeling with Currie.

It was Wolken. Thamel has penned a number of critical pieces of Tennessee as well, but Wolken was the one texting with Currie.

It is not a coincidence that most Thamel pieces have an extremely skeptical, cynical, and sarcastic tone. He got his ass burned by the Te'o fake girlfriend story, and now it's like he doesn't trust anything.

The only media reps in the doc are the two (former) Deadspin guys who broke the story and NBC's sideline reporter. Other media figures are shown in clips, but none were interviewed for the piece. It's a real oversight on the part of the producers.

I honestly wouldn't bother watching it. It adds very little to the story.

Maybe they tried to get them but they refused. I'd be real embarrassed too if I were them.

 

[05_never_again]

The documentary was okay. But I think it was so focused on how it affected Te'o that it missed the two real stories.

The first story was touched on a little bit by the guys from Deadspin, which is how the media bought this BS without doing even cursory fact checking. They parroted this false story for months and got scooped by a glorified blog.

The second wasn't touched at all, which is all the lying that Te'o and his family did. If the producers put those lies in front of Te'o or his parents, then they chose not to air any of it. The most glaring of those lies is Te'o and his dad both claiming to have met the girl. At least they were quoted in multiple publications as having done so. I can only assume that the Te'os only agreed to participate if those topics weren't on the table.

I would love, love to know who tipped the Deadspin guys off. AFAIK, this wasn't a story Deadspin had been pursuing; they got an anonymous tip out of the blue that the girlfriend didn't exist, and they did some LexisNexis searches and weren't able to find any trace of the "girlfriend" being a Stanford student, an obituary, etc. It's amazing how seemingly easy it was for them to do this once they were tipped off.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

It was Wolken. Thamel has penned a number of critical pieces of Tennessee as well, but Wolken was the one texting with Currie.

It is not a coincidence that most Thamel pieces have an extremely skeptical, cynical, and sarcastic tone. He got his ass burned by the Te'o fake girlfriend story, and now it's like he doesn't trust anything.

Maybe they tried to get them but they refused. I'd be real embarrassed too if I were them.

Those texts from Wolken to Currie were hilarious. He was basically kissing Currie’s ass on what a great hire it was. . Kind of funny, bc now Thamel is now White’s guy.

 

[SpookyAction]

I think Manti created the whole story by incorporating "the girlfriend's" story into his own to make his media coverage more compelling. Thus he created the firestorm because it opened the whole situation up to real scrutiny. I am convinced he was blindsided by the truth. NO reason anyone would make that happen. He thought he had a story to sell to boost his exposure, but ended up looking like a Loser.

 

[Probably_in_Class]

Dude is just wildly gullible, I think.

I'm with you. He was a mormon kid dropped into stardom. I don't think he had any clue what was going on.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

I haven't seen the doc yet, so maybe it will change my mind, but I think Te'o was in on it in some way. There is just no way a reasonably good-looking, elite, well-known football player for Notre freaking Dame was genuinely fooled by someone impersonating a girl online. It isn't like he had limited options. Usually, people who get duped by that sort of thing are really young and impressionable, or really naive, socially awkward outcast types. At the very least, he was being disingenuous about the relationship he had with "Lennay Kekua" - their relationship was entirely online/he had never met her, but he neglected to mention that. He also had received a phone call from the woman he knew as Lennay Kekua, saying that she was still alive, but he kept talking about her death to the media for weeks after that.

Perhaps he was genuinely catfished initially, and then by the time he figured out he had been tricked, the media knew about his "girlfriend" so he went along with it to avoid embarrassment. Regardless, somebody other than the guy pulling the hoax knew what was going on and gave an anonymous tip to Deadspin.

Your first paragraph is all covered pretty well in the documentary, including why he kept talking about her death in the media after hearing she was alive.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I was under the impression that Wolken was the guy that was back channeling with Currie.

Yes, you are right.

Pete Thamel wrote a hatchet piece that was very critical of Tennessee fans at the time, but it was Dan Wolken who was working in cahoots wih Currie.

 

[volfanhill]

Dude got screwed by means of something that was new. Feel bad for him. And the way he was treated afterwards was shameful. Reporters asking if he was gay. Come on. Be better.

 

[bamawriter]

Dude got screwed by means of something that was new. Feel bad for him. And the way he was treated afterwards was shameful. Reporters asking if he was gay. Come on. Be better.

You shouldn't feel bad for him. He "got screwed" because he decided to embellish the story, tell it to any reporter that would listen, and soaked in the adulation of yet another Notre Dame myth. Whether or not he was actually duped (and I'm still not convinced 10 years later), he told so many lies that were of his own making, not the scammer's. And as for folks asking if he was gay, those folks were NFL personnel guys rather than reporters. And frankly, it's a totally fair question to ask.

 

[LouderVol]

I thought you were gonna say that the real story was how he was so overhyped as a player. I guess he did fine in the NFL. I don't doubt that you get a boost if the media believes your girlfriend died. I still remember, all these years later, in the 2012 Championship game, somebody posted/Youtube/something a drinking game in which one of the rules was "Every time Mante Teo misses a tackle you take a shot".

He wasnt missing a tackle, he was just hugging his girl friend.

 

[05_never_again]

Your first paragraph is all covered pretty well in the documentary, including why he kept talking about her death in the media after hearing she was alive.

I'm honestly not sure I'll watch it based on some of the comments here...why did he keep talking to the media about her "death" even though he knew she was a fake person? Just purely out of embarrassment?