Netflix documentary exposes the catfishing of Manti Te'o: 'One problem, his girlfriend did not exist'
If you're old enough to remember when Manti Te'o was one of the best college football players in the country, you're old enough to remember the fake girlfriend "scandal" that became even bigger than him.
Te'o was already a superstar linebacker for one of the biggest brands in college football: the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Then, on the same night, both his grandmother and girlfriend died. The grandmother part was true. The problem is, that wasn't immediately known, so Te'o dealing with his grief while putting up a Heisman Trophy campaign and leading Notre Dame to the BCS National Championship captured the attention of just about everyone.
"He dedicated his season to them, it was an amazing story," one commenter remembered as he spoke on Netflix's newest addition to the "Untold" series. "One problem, his girlfriend did not exist."
His "girlfriend" was, of course, not the woman he thought was Lennay Kekua, and she did not die of lukemia.
Turns out, Te'o was the victim of an elaborate hoax. He did have a relationship with someone online, but he was embarrassed to admit that he had never met this person. He wasn't talking to Lennay Kekua, but rather, someone named Naya Tuiasosopo, who both faked her voice and used someone else's pictures to trick the football star. She also never died.
"At this point, I'm at the Heisman ceremony. I don't know what to think, and I can't tell anybody what's going on," Te'o remembers in the documentary.
Part of the hit series, the documentary title is "The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist."
"Born into a Hawaiian paradise, All-American football standout Manti Te'o leads a simple life summed up in just three words: faith, family, football. College football's golden boy could do no wrong, but when tragedy strikes, the increased scrutiny of his online relationship causes a media maelstrom that threatens his future and legacy," Netflix says in its description of the documentary.
Te'o was never the same after the scandal.
He finished second in the Heisman Trophy vote to Johnny Manziel and was subsequently drafted No. 38 overall in the 2013 NFL Draft by the Chargers. He played seven seasons in the NFL but never came close to recapturing the level of play or star power that he had at Notre Dame.
He was also certainly never viewed the same ever again.
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