UPDATE: ESPN Gets Interview with Former Notre Dame Star
As of Friday afternoon, two days had passed since the story of former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'os fake/dead girlfriend exploded on the web.
While Te'o released a statement hours after Deadspin.com published their long, detailed account, he's been silent and avoided answering a number of nagging questions journalists and non-journalists alike have regarding the story and the "relationship."
Word is he's at a combine camp in Florida and has hired Tom Condon of CAA as his agent. Neither have talked.
But that hasn't stopped others from trying to piece together the details of the bizarre story that's rocked the sports world.
- Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who has been publicly identified as being behind the hoax, called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, that friend told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" Thursday.
- Manti Te'o's uncle, Alema Te'o, was a guest on a Salt Lake City radio show on Thursday and said he suspected Tuiasosopo was a "bad rat" from the moment he met him in a hotel room before Notre Dame's game against the University of Southern California in November.
- Citing sources, Us Weekly reported Friday that Tuiasosopo is believed to have told an elaborate lie to producers of NBC's "The Voice" when he auditioned for the show. "He claimed a truck crashed into their vehicle, sending them flip-flopping all over the freeway. He also said doctors thought one of them might have been brain-dead, but miraculously, everyone was fine," the magazine reported.
- A Los Angeles TV station, KCAL, said the face used for Lennay Kekua actually belongs to Diane O'Meara, a 23-year-old who works in marketing.
- Te'o may not have been the only man who "dated" Kekua. Ariel Schulman, the director of the documentary "Catfish" told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday that he believes there may have been "a few other people duped by the fake Lennay character."
- Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday that Te'o learned of the hoax on Dec. 6 while attending an awards ceremony in Orlando. But several media outlets have found instances after that date where Te'o spoke of Kekua. ESPN offered several examples.
For its part, Notre Dame has effectively washed its hands of the story, given that Te'o now has professional representation. But even his alma mater is urging Te'o to come forward, offer details, and clear up the confusion.
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