Manti Te’o was welcomed back to Notre Dame on Saturday and received quite the response from the home fans.
On Saturday, Te’o made his first public appearance at a Notre Dame game since 2012, when he last played for the Fighting Irish. He was welcomed back to present the colors prior to the team’s game against California, and was warmly greeted by fans.
The reception was even more rousing inside the stadium when he was introduced. Te’o was showered with cheers, and appeared to be wiping away tears over the crowd’s reaction.
Te’o was a star linebacker for Notre Dame from 2009 to 2012, and was the anchor of the 2012 team that played in the National Championship game. Ultimately, the end of his career was overshadowed by the infamous fake girlfriend hoax that he was still hearing about years later. A recent Netflix documentary about the hoax revived interest in the story, however, and painted a more sympathetic picture of Te’o’s role in the fiasco.
Notre Dame is off to an 0-2 start, so perhaps Te’o’s return will help get the team moving in the right direction.
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