Fake Girlfriend

[Andit]

Here is my take on this (from the little I've seen/read).
- he's young and from a conservative background (Mormons are not exactly known for partying, Broadway ones excepted)
- he's likely shy and has little experience with girls
- when his teammates show up with pretty cheerleaders hanging off their arms and start teasing him about the existence of the mysterious girlfriend, of course he says he met her, even if he hadn't
- despite middle-aged (ok, my aged) psychologists on news programs proclaiming that it's impossible to fall in love without meeting in person, I can think of examples where that has indeed happened

As to the why?
- organized crime (always a good candidate for a conspiracy theorist)
- illegal sports betting (wonder if anyone bet large against his team the day the gf "died")
- bad prank gone wild
- stalker fan looking for payback

I have no idea what the truth is (nor do I particularly care), but I can see a scenario where he is innocent. Wonder if the truth will ever come out.

[Darth Penguin]

Notre Dame star admits girlfriend hoax lie

Te'o, 21, said he learned it was a hoax after receiving a call from the voice he believed belonged to the dead Kekua.
"Now I get a phone call on December 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later," the University of Notre Dame linebacker told Katie Couric in a portion of the interview broadcast on Wednesday.
"You know, what would you do?"
Kekua had supposedly died of leukaemia in September, within hours of Te'o's real-life grandmother, who passed away after a long illness.

Earlier, the college football star said her death had inspired him to lead Notre Dame on its march to the national championship game. His story was widely featured in the US sports media.
"Katie, put yourself in my situation," Te'o, who is of Samoan ancestry, said in the Wednesday interview, after admitting the December deception.
"My whole world told me that she died on September 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on September 12."

[Natalka]

Katie Couric had him and his parents on her show yesterday - I saw maybe half of it, it was very interesting.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/manti-teo-l...ry?id=18302896

[electric_viking]

it was a dude.