Untold: The Girlfriend who didn't exsist

[Ben Wyatt]

Anyone else catch this on Netflix?   Absolutely fascinating. Teo is probably more forgiving than I would be

[BRV]

I went through my old posts in the immediate aftermath of the Deadspin story, and I was unforgiving in my belief that Manti Te'o was in on it. I thought there was no way someone could be that naïve, or, to be blunt, that dumb, to believe the story he was being fed about Lennay Kekua and the myriad reasons why they couldn't meet in person. I also thought it was one of those classic sports stories that perfectly fit into a movie-esque narrative, to the point where I thought his parents were possible co-conspirators in the scam, as there were reports that they met after a game and she visited him in Hawaii. It just felt like, back in 2013, every time Te'o tried to explain something, it would lead to another unanswerable question.

After watching "Untold," I've definitely softened on that stance, because if he wasn't in on it, then Te'o is one hell of a convincing actor in those talking heads. But it doesn't take away from the fact that there are only two schools of thought: he was in on it (which I no longer tend to wholeheartedly believe, although I still have my doubts) or he was remarkably, shockingly, impossibly stupid (which I now totally believe).

The newest fact from the documentary that raised my eyebrow was when Te'o heard about Lennay, the supposed love of his life, being hospitalized in a car accident and then revealing a leukemia diagnosis, at no point does Te'o try to visit the hospital or reach out to her parents to offer any support. He just talks to Lennay on the phone and her cousin and that's it. The same goes for after she died. He never thought about contacting her parents to offer sympathy, or going to the funeral? He allegedly loved this girl and dedicated his season to her, but she dies and he doesn't even offer any support to her family in this time of need?

[salz4life]

Yeah, I haven't watched it all (my wife was watching it and I saw the last half hour or so) and I think he was just INCREDIBLY naive and a bit dumb. What I don't get is it seems like they were trying to make the person that did this sympathetic. Maybe I missed something in not watching the entire thing, but regardless of Te'o's naivety, this person is a scumbag for doing what they did. I don't care what was going on with them. They cost Te'o money in the draft. Had this not happened, Te'o goes in the first round and makes more money. F them.

[XIII]

I haven’t watched this, so can’t comment on any new developments or anything, but I always thought that Te’o and ND were kind of involved in concocting this mess as a ploy to get sympathy during heisman voting.

Either he’s a lying scumbag or really really dumb. Not great choices. lol

[Cyno]

Didn't Teo grow up in a really sheltered environment. That sort of upbringing can definitely lead to extreme naiveté.