What will hurt his draft stock was his play against Alabama where he was exposed as a good, but not great linebacker.  His "leadership" and "character" was keeping him in the upper part of the 1st round.  Now he is looking like a lower 1, early 2.  Folks will say it was the "girlfriend" that will drop his stock - but that too is a facade.

He was a blocking dummy v Alabama

Good job Tim, Donuts is just being a hater.

According to reports:

"Te’o shared the news with the university on Dec. 26, and on Dec. 29 Notre Dame decided to pursue an investigation. On Jan. 2, the university hired a private investigation firm, then just two days later the investigation ended, reports the (South Bend) Tribune, even though it “did not interview Te’o or his family, nor did anyone attempt to contact [the primary suspect of the hoax] or any of his relatives.”

Pathetic response by ND.

Still showing your anti-ND bias you displayed over three decades ago as a young student at Ohio University. Still smarting from all those beatdowns the Irish put on your Nittany Lions?

There's just part of Te'o's story that doesn't sit right- if he truly believed his girlfriend was a real person how could he not go visit her at least once when she was in the hospital?

According to Te'o she was hit by a drunk driver on April 28th. Classes ended at ND on May 1st and finals were done by May 10th. He says in mid May he was flying from South Bend to Hawaii for summer break when her family called and said they were going to have to pull the plug. He says he expected to land in HI and have a voicemail saying she's dead.

Why did he not stop in SoCal and see his girlfriend if she wasn't going to live another day? Who does that? And what about the rest of the summer? Fall camp didn't start till August 4th, he couldn't stop by SoCal on his way back to ND to check on his girlfriend who is still in the hospital because now she has cancer too?

WHAT does it take for this guy to stop by and check on someone he supposedly cares about? He said they knew each other for 4 years and date for a year, but he couldn't stop by and see her, or at least meet her family? c'mon, this doesn't make any sense.

The problem is that no explanation of the facts passes the smell test. The best one I can come up with is this:

I think that Te'o was duped, but that he was guilty of playing games, too. I think that Kekua was more of an acquaintance than a girlfriend to him, and that he used the relationship because it was convenient, and amused him. I think he made lots of calls because he was trying to be a good guy and help in her time of need, but really didn't feel any particular obligation to visit. Over time they probably did become closer, from all the contact. Then, when she "died" at the same time as his grandmother, it did mess with his head, but then the story took on a life of its own, and the nature of the relationship expanded beyond what it ever had really been, and he didn't object. Why bother, after all, she'd dead, right?

When she called again on December 6th, he was pissed, because he thought she was playing games with his emotions (she was, but not the ones he thought). When she kept calling, he finally went to his coach - he still thought she was real, but by this time thought she was a real pain who was trying to play head games with him, and just wished she would go away, and didn't know what to do The PI report confused him more, because it tied her to Tuiasosopo, but then, he knew they were tied together. At this point he knew something was fishy, but he didn't know what, exactly. Still thinking she was real, he didn't know what to do? Do you hold a press conference and say "Well, you know that girl I thought was dead? I guess she faked it, but at this point i wish she was dead."? It wasn't until he read the Deadspin report that he finally understood - she indeed had never existed at all.

Now, meanwhile, What was Tuiasosopo's goal? I have no clue. I think he started it as a prank, and it was for his amusement. Somewhere along the line he needed a girl play the part of Kekua, and then things got out of hand. I have a funny feeling that out there somewhere is a real girl that developed a real crush on Te'o somewhere along the way, and the 'prank' took on a life of it's own. I have another sneaking suspicion that this girl can't come forward and admit that for some specific reason, such as, she may be under age.

As for Reagan Mauia? I have no clue where he fits in. Maybe he's the second guy that assisted Tuiasosopo, and opened his mouth before he realized it was far, far too late to save the scam.

So, there is my best guess...feel free to shoot holes in my theory. Every other theory has holes, and mine probably has plenty, too.

Story about Tim Burke in the Post today: http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/q-deadspin-reporter-timo...

If I were Ronaiah, I wouldn't say anything publicly. No profit in it.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't believe a thing Manti Te'o says.  I get the impression he believes what he says.  I suspect we are dealing with mental illness here.  

I don't think anyone theorized Tuiasosopo to be the gay one.

That's not at all the conclustion I've come to. It seems to me like he put way too much trust into an Internet relationship and lied to various people because he was embarrassed.

Do you honestly believe he has a mental illness or are you trying to make sense of something that might not entirely make sense?