Sometimes, you just have to laugh at yourself, and that’s what Manti Te’o did.
The former Notre Dame football standout was a Heisman Trophy candidate who became one of the faces of football because of an off-the-field story.
He had found out that his girlfriend and grandmother had died within a 24-hour span of one another.
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Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish player Manti Te’o waves to fans during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Notre Dame Stadium Sept. 17, 2022, in South Bend, Ind. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
However, he later learned that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, never actually existed.
Eventually, Te’o found out he had been catfished. He had instead been communicating with a man pretending to be Kekua in an online relationship.
The story took on a life of its own, and the incident was recently featured in a Netflix documentary.
So, when he made his NFL Network debut this week, he cracked a joke about it.
Former Notre Dame player Manti Te’o enters the stadium before a game between Notre Dame and California in South Bend, Ind., Sept. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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“I haven’t Googled myself since 2013, for obvious reasons,” Te’o said, prompting laughter from his co-hosts.
Te’o is hoping to rewrite his story just a bit.
“There are so many people that reached out to me, all over the world, that said, ‘Hey listen, your story really impacted me,'” Te’o said on the broadcast. “Now, that put a responsibility on me to say … not everybody knows the truth. Not everybody saw the documentary. So, what good can I do? Well, in order for you to do any type of good, you have to have a voice that people will listen to.
“And what a great opportunity that NFL Network has given me to be on camera with again my NFL Network family, the “Good Morning Football” family, where I can be able to add some value and also have value added to me and grow my family.”
Manti T’eo of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish encourages the crowd to cheer against the BYU Cougars at Notre Dame Stadium Oct. 20, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
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Te’o was a second-round pick in 2013 and played eight seasons, splitting his time with the Chargers, Saints and Bears.
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