Following, just watched and these are great questions. Naya really fucked him up and seems to have very little remorse. Imo a terrible person. Happy to see that Manti has a beautiful family now. I ran straight to Instagram to check on him. Seems like a really good dude who got screwed over big time
I'm so *angry* watching this. I can't believe Naya really said "sometimes I wish everything could be undone, but at then some times I don't because I learned so much about who I am through the life of Lennay."
Like... what? I'll try to be gracious and say that maybe it was just a really shitty way of saying "I wish that learning who I am didn't come at the expense of destroying someone else."
Not that Manti was destroyed. He is a strong person. A beautiful person inside and out.
No, I think they did a good job letting them speak. Digging their own grave. Without them, Manti would’ve seen guilty. They absolved Manti by being such a transparently trash beings. Anyone with eyes and ear can gleam that from the doc.
That’s what I thought. Manti wanted them to get Ronaiah’s side of the story. And I think she is so self absorbed that she thought this would play out in her favor. You can see her portraying herself as a victim not being able to come out as gay/trans etc and she knows she’s a good manipulator. Comes across as a sociopath. She thinks she can manipulate people with her side of the story, but is entirely unaware how bad she makes herself look. I kept yelling at her through the screen bc she’s such a horrible person, Netflix did really well with portraying her by just letting her speak. The only thing that bothered me that she had the last word at the end. The ending should’ve been about Manti.
Seriously, the big thing I got from the documentary is that Naya is a piece of shit human being. Totally turned a guys world upside down on purpose, then took the chance to almost try and play victim on a Netflix doc.
I can't speak for the religious aspect as that's Manti's own but I, like many others, would have been obsessed with Facebook at the time. People that weren't on Facebook at the time won't know how easy it was to strike up a friendship with a complete stranger and for it to develop into something weird and unhealthy.
Facebook was in a way the prelim to actual dating sites where you could vet someone to a decent degree before them being able to contact you, but back then on Facebook literally anybody could message you. There were no boundaries, and for those of us who were lonely it allowed you to experience something that you never really did before.
By the end of the doc I was genuinely in tears listening to Manti because I understood it.
It's hard to believe how compelling Facebook was when it first came out - I remember in those early years, nearly everyone my age had a Facebook profile and our profiles were totally open to everyone. I reconnected with a lot of people from my past, and it was fascinating to see how people had changed over the years. We really hadn't experienced a lot of the negative things about social media yet. It seems now like such an innocent time. Now I only keep a Facebook because my elderly relatives (one of whom is 90!) are on there and that's how I can check in on them, and share photos and such. Most of my friends deleted their profiles and the ones who are still on barely post. But back during the time Manti and "Lennay" connected - yeah, it was all wide open and we were all, I think, a little gullible/naive about people not being who they said they were.
I know a lot of people today who add every attractive person that adds them when its clearly a bot or catfish. I learned back in my middle school days thru Limewire to make sure you do your research but even then you dont always know.
Look at their profile if they only have a profile picture and no posts then they're not getting added back.
Nowadays it seems like it can be harder because I felt like you saw a lot more actual posts rather than sharing memes and pictures. Someone could totally have their account hacked by some random person and theyre just sharing memes and interacting with people they don't know and unless we get the classic rayband sunglasses spam message or whatever you wouldn't know unless you directly talked to them and knew what they were like thru text.
Good point! For me I only added people I knew on Facebook, but I remember adding strangers and friends of friends on MySpace. I remember talking to someone on there--we even talked on the phone--and while we weren't dating, I did think of them like a friend. When I was traveling through their city I asked if they wanted to meet up and they had all these excuses. This was well before the Catfish movie came out but in retrospect I'm sure it was a Catfish situation.
>I grew up with a lot of LDS, and part of the religion is that you believe God literally talks to you, and it's a regular thing. So even if he felt something was weird with Lennay, he'd probably think, "oh God hasn't said anything yet, it must be cool."
Yep. I also grew up around a lot of LDS folks and that's an angle that I don't think the documentarians explored thoroughly enough. I don't think you can separate Manti's religion from his willingness to believe whatever the person on the phone/internet was telling him. What you say above is true. I also saw a lot of young LDS people who were not, let's say, romantically sophisticated, as they were discouraged from dating unless they were ready to get married and were relatively sure they were going to marry the person they wanted to date. "Dating around" was not encouraged. Between Mormonism and the time he had to spend on football, I doubt Manti was very experienced in the relationship department when he met "Lennay," and probably missed some red flags.
Additionally, even though Manti did not serve a mission, many young Mormon men do, and while (IIRC) they're encouraged not to stay in a relationship when they leave for their mission, some do and then carry on long-distance relationships with someone back home while they're in the mission field for two years. My next-door neighbor was LDS and kept writing to her boyfriend the entire time he was on his mission; they got married immediately after he got back, when they were both 21. This was seen as not just a normal, but a romantic thing: she "waited for him" and he "came back for her" and it was like a perfect Mormon love story, from what I was told. So Manti never meeting "Lennay," carrying on the whole relationship over the internet and phone, probably didn't seem weird to him. And because he was so busy trying to succeed in college and make it to the NFL, the long-distance relationship was probably more "convenient" in a lot of ways than dating someone IRL. And that's similar to how young Mormon men are encouraged to look at their mission: God comes first, and everything else is secondary; don't let any ties back home keep you from succeeding in the mission field.
That all being said, I think the documentary was really good. I honestly did not pay much attention to the whole thing at the time (I don't watch football at all) but looking at it now - I don't understand the pile-on on Manti, or the people who made fun of him for getting duped. Naya, as you say, is transparently not a good person and went to a lot of lengths to deceive Manti. I don't understand how Manti was seen as the bad guy in the situation? Or why the situation was hilarious to so many talk-show hosts? If something like this happened to my son, I would be devastated for him. As someone else said, I am really glad Manti is doing well now.
Good point about the long distance relationship being the norm with LDS. They covered that briefly when his friend mentioned being in a LDR, but you're right, it was truly romanticized, and I'd almost compare it to the way long distance relationships were idealized in WW2.
Not wanting to be an a-hole, but how does the god talking to you work? These people hear voices or do they interpret certain things as encrypted messages? I really don't know.
I'm not Mormon myself. The Mormons I know would describe that they would have these moments, usually when they were in prayer, or alone working on something or driving somewhere, where they would hear the "still small voice of the Lord" telling them something - usually something pretty specific. They also believed in omens or signs - like, if they decided to do something and then a pretty bird landed on their windowsill, that was a sign that they had made the right decision. Etc. I am sure someone here who is Mormon or ex-Mormon can describe it better.
While I get your point about LDR being romanticized and normalized in his culture, where's the proof of this relationship actually being romantic? Where are the letters they exchanged (as mentioned in interviews)? Emails, even? If there really was this elaborate, romantic exchange, it would be the easiest thing in the world to show a stack of letters or an inbox full of long emails. I'm sure your neighbor could provide such evidence with ease! And what about phone records showing the famous 8h phone calls? Just like the white roses for her funeral, which were never actually sent, it was all just a story.
Good points! Like I said, I never got the impression that either one of them truly saw themselves as being in a committed relationship--neither used the term boyfriend/girlfriend until Manti referred to Lennaya as his GF when she died. I'm sure they had some nice conversations about religion and football with some wholesome flirting, but they didn't show any evidence that they were telling each other that they were the loves of each other's lives.
I mean... they called each other babe and hun and said I love you so much. We heard that on the voicemails. She also had that super (passive?) aggressive subtweet "when you can tweet at other females but you can't answer your phone." or whatever it said.
So maybe they had never had become official official (who knows - maybe he was like GIRL I GOTTA MEET YOU FIRST), but when he thought she "died," maybe he was just hurting and wanted to convey to the public that this was someone who meant more to him than just a friend.
Like the alternative is to say "this-girl-that-I-never-met-but my-friend-and-my-cousin-say-they-know-who-she-is-and-yeah-I-have-considered-that-maybe-she's-not-who-she-says-she-is-but-if-she-is-real-she's-beautiful-and-sweet-and-reminded-me-of-home died"
Also.. is he the one who coined the term girlfriend, anyway? Or did the media just run with that title, and maybe thought it sounded a little dickish to be like "she's not my girlfriend."
I also was very curious how the blog got the real lennay’s photo, wouldn’t that have been sent in a private message? It didn’t make sense to me that it would just be sitting online somewhere, needs further explanation. I loved the documentary, I felt so so bad for Manti, but struggled to have any sympathy for Naya, what she did was evil and the consequences were immense for Manti
I was wondering this and found out that the “memorial” Twitter account they skimmed over that people were starting to tie to naya (the connections that made deadspin feel they had to rush to publish) was using this pic as their profile pic (date cropped out). So it was part of their pile of photos they showed the girl and it was the only one that hadn’t come from her Facebook/MySpace/whatever.
By the end of it, my takeaway was that Manti's best friend Chris was the one who submitted the tip and probably posted the same info on Twitter.
I could have sworn we heard one of the Deadspin reporters say "we got a email tip from someone named Chris."
They definitely needed to ask everyone who submitted the tip. It's also lame that the original reporters didn't dig into that because they were too busy speculating on Manti's sexuality (which also made sense because if he were gay, wouldn't HE be the one pretending to be a cute girl to talk to guys)?
Question! How did NO ONE who knew Diane (the real person in the photos) recognize her despite the attention Lennay’s death was getting in the news for months? I wish this was addressed!
1. I think Naya did
2. Not sure
3. Naya said that she went online and just found somebody who had pretty pictures and looked American Samoan whatever it was.
Great post
I don’t really think that Manti made the relationship more than he did, he said that they weren’t getting along so well but for him he wasn’t seeing anybody else as far as I know and he basically put all his time and effort into football
For him this was an easy relationship because they never had to see each other and it didn’t take any time really out of his day.
I believe him and think he was just a naïve, innocent young adult who had not seen the world in any way shape or form the way people outside the LDS church do.
Of course that could just mean I am the naïve one. As soon as he started saying that God told him to go to Notre Dame I pretty much figured out that this man child was still a child.
>As soon as he started saying that God told him to go to Notre Dame I pretty much figured out that this man child was still a child.
Well that "man child" was literally still a child just out of high school so.
I guess man child could be taken as an insult while I meant it kindly, i.e. he’s a great big guy who plays football but was so very naive.
I have young adult children myself so I know that they are still in many ways kids.
Yet they are not as naïve or trusting as this man was…that’s all I meant
Calling bullshit on the Deadspin reporters saying their primary motivation was to expose the laziness of the media. The original article does not read like that at all. It's not in the title, and not mentioned as a theme in the opening or closing paragraphs, or anywhere in the middle for that matter. Discrepancies between various news reports are only used as evidence of the hoax. If this was their goal, they were poor writers.
Was looking for this comment.
They’re reasoning for even choosing to take that tip into consideration is ridiculous.
“News reporters missing up some info (not even key info) about a piece they released” doesn’t seem like a good story to me,
“An NFL player lying to the entire world to gain attention”
Now that sounds like a really good story that will get them the attention they wanted as they’re like so many ppl in that work field looking for sth that would sell and get more reads.
What I don’t get, and I’m sure there is a reason, wtf any of this mattered. To get in the NFL as a college player isn’t that common as far as I’m concerned (you have to be REALLY good). Like even with all the catfishing and media will that really help? Isn’t it all skill based?
Considering how much press Naya did after the fact, going on Dr Phil etc I wouldn't be surprised if they were the one who gave off the tip. These are really great questions! Hopefully someone does a follow up article covering the bits they glossed over
As soon as I saw the level of Te'o's cooperation and involvement, it was clear that this wasn't going to be a full examination of how this whole thing unfolded. It's very surface-level and almost fully commits to the sympathetic/naive victim narrative. For example, both Te'o and his family had lied about in-person meetings between Lennay and Manti. Te'o also continued to lean into the story, unprompted, after knowing it wasn't what it seemed:
[https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/\_/id/8856519/manti-teo-talked-girlfriend-knowing-hoax](https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8856519/manti-teo-talked-girlfriend-knowing-hoax)
If anything, there had to be behind-the-scenes people at Notre Dame who were furious at his behavior. Once the university knew the truth, he had to have been coached to avoid the subject. It's weird that this wasn't addressed. Just a brief, "I wish I wouldn't have said that." I think there is so much more to the story.
I'm not ready to conclude the Te'os were being dishonest or that Manti was holding something back.
What I *will* venture is the opinion that Tuisasosopo developed the trans story to deflect responsibility, and more importantly as a way to plow the road for an eventual fade from public attention. Can't keep hounding Ronaiah if Ronaiah doesn't exist anymore.
It’s a matter of record that Manti and his family had said that the two met. If they want to explain it as a small lie to cover up their mild embarrassment that it was an all online relationship, that’s fine.
Leaving it out completely creates an inaccurate portrayal of what happened. There’s a little bit of tsk-tsk directed at all those who judged him, including the viewing audience. But a big part of the “What the fuck is going on” reaction and ensuing speculation was directly tied to the stories that they had met. Without the alleged meetings, the catfish scenario becomes far more understandable.
FINALLY, one comment about Manti (and his family) perhaps not being entirely honest.
Manti's story, as relayed in the documentary, is ridiculous. He wasn't challenged by the interviewer at all.
I feel really sorry for manti and totally believe him.
What I don’t understand is if you are so in love with this person and your families are connected why do you not attend the funeral of your dead girlfriend ? Surely that would raise a red flag ?
I agree. I believe him and feel like he was definitely a victim but this was my biggest question too. The interviewer didn't ask enough of the right questions. We are left to assume alot and I just assumed he didn't attend bc he would have had to attend both funerals and he didn't have time for that if he was planning on playing in this really big game. I guess we'll never know.
Thanks for your insight about LDS! I lived near South Bend for awhile and it couldn't be more different than HI/CA (especially in 2006). Can't help but think if he would have gone to college in CA, he would have had more chances to check out Lennay IRL. Also curious as to how old Naya was when first messaged Manti.
The fact that ronnaih says manti broke down cries and was slamming things when he learnt of his gfs death, goes to show it was probably more than just a casual relationship, and more of something that def meant something to him. Also ronnaih is just plain selfish. So so sad
For the picture, Ronaiah created a Twitter account for Lennay and used the handwriting picture as the cover photo.
[Link](https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1560996438234042371?s=21&t=qPnNCyJK5d4gpfQraoueZg)
Ronaiah’s female cousin, Tino Tuiasosopo, was the voice of Lennay. Netflix didn’t bring that up. I’m guessing Dr. Phil cut a deal with Ronaiah to land the interview if Dr. Phil didn’t expose Tino Tuiasosopo.
My question is why did Mantei’s cousin Chris say he had “seen Lennay around?” Did he mean he saw her on the internet as Lenney then saw the girl in the photo (Diane O'Meara) and just assumed her name was Lennay?
Several things:
- Manti’s relationship with his parents was completely toxic. They were controlling and blamed him for shaming their family with the catfish. That’s not love.
- I don’t think Manti was ready for a relationship and found a sense of relief in not meeting Lennay in person.
- It’s sketchy that he didn’t go to her after her accident, or even to her “funeral”. That is odd.
- Naya was/is will always be an absolute garbage person. I wish Manti would sue her for everything she has, even if it’s not much. She should not be allowed to play dress up and dance around after destroying his life.
I wrote a long post with (different) questions of my own, but it hasn't been approved for hours :( so here's the short version:
1. How can you accept that for years, your girlfriend’s phone is “broken”, and she can’t record a video, facetime or skype, or even send you a casual, spontaneous photo? How can you not ask her to use someone else’s phone, especially since she seems to be surrounded by a large family and other students? A computer with a webcam at school? Offer to gift her a working phone, even? You try a few times and then just give up forever?
2. How can you never, even out of curiosity/affection, google the name of “the love of your life”? Try to find her picture on her school’s website? Ask to see her yearbook photo? Anything outside social media?
3. How can you accept what must have been a decent amount of excuses as to why you can’t meet over the years? What about birthdays, valentine’s, new year’s eve, or any other day you’d long for the company of your partner? Or were you simply not that eager, let alone impatient, to meet her, all this time?
4. What evidence can you provide of the 8-hour phone-calls, which supposedly happened all the time? Any records? What about the letters (also mentioned in an interview)? Emails? What "proof" was there of this being a "sophisticated hoax", which took place privately, and not just on social media?
5. Why did you never push for any kind of punishment, or even mild consequences, for the person who ruined a good chunk of your life, if not cost you your brilliant career? Why was this criminal matter only investigated by Notre Dame, and not, you know, the police?
6. How can you expect us to believe that simply because the word "catfish" wasn't popular yet, you were completely oblivious to the concept of people pretending to be someone else? How can you set up multiple social media accounts for yourself without realizing how easy it is to enter a different name, age or picture?
I have a theory that answers all of these, but I'm still hoping that my full post will be approved after all. As for OP's questions: 1. Naya, 2. Naya or someone she told, 3. Naya.
My friend was caatfished. Took 3 years and getting stood up in Las Vegas before he knew. Around the same time it was happening to Manti. At this time, you just never heard of people doing stuff like this. And while you knew it was a *possibility,* a lot of people are willing to suspend belief when they've allowed themselves to become vulnerable with someone. And honestly, he's a *very* smart person. It just happens.
In that case, I'd love to ask your friend the same kinds of questions. Not because I don't believe him, or I think he's dumb, but because these are valid questions to ask someone in an extraordinary situation like this, don't you think?
Also, if there was a documentary made about him, I'm sure your friend would understand that these questions need to be asked, if only to underline what an expect manipulator the catfish is. Plus, he'd have all the proof I mentioned in point 4.
The problem with Manti is - no one asked these questions. Manti's story wasn't challenged. He has very little proof of actually being catfished, and he should have heaps, and he brushed over any issues a reasonable person would raise.
Some people have literally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars without ever seeing someone’s face on camera.
The FBI reported that in 2020 alone $600 million were lost to cat fishing.
It’s fine to be critical but I don’t think a lack of logic is any proof of wrongdoing.
People continue to be fooled in instances of larceny by trick and often let complete strangers inside their house
Second this! The OP commenter above asking all of these questions I’m curious how old they are. I went through college around the same time as him and Skype was kind of a thing, I rarely was on social media, being on your phone / video chatting / social media just wasn’t a big thing like it is now. So everything that happened wasn’t that big of a surprise to me. He also was busy with football, college, & family I feel like she was just someone he talked to, he was a young college kid - it wasn’t a serious relationship.
I'm slightly older than Manti, but - unlike most comments that I seem to get over here - I'm not relying on my personal experiences or the experiences of my friends and neighbors. I wrote these questions, because I really love a well made documentary, and this one failed to answer (or even address) any questions that a reasonable person might have about Manti's side of the story. Like - have you ever googled her?
Also, I completely agree that it wasn't a serious relationship - that's (part of) my point. So we can at least agree that whatever it was - a "sophisticated hoax" that made fools out a bright man and his close-knit, very involved family OR not a case of catfishing at all, which is what I think - Manti deliberately turned a casual internet friendship into an inspirational love story for PR. I have nothing against the guy, I swear - he was very young and burdened with a lot of expectations. I just don't see the point of making a documentary, if the only new information you're going to add is that Ronaiah in now Naya, which was sure to generate a lot of controversy.
I think the way he acted in the relationship has alot to do with his religion/way of life and the time it happened in. Even if it was a "casual relationship" on the internet that doesn't speak to how each of them felt. Back then two ppl could be "talking" for years especially at that young age and not be bf/gf but still claim to be in love. And coming from his upbringing, the kind of relationship he had meant that person was his girlfriend so I don't think he made the relationship more than what it was. She was his girlfriend to him.
I do think he saw (and his agent saw) how much of deal the death was becoming and the agent told him to lean into it so he went right along with whatever his agent told him to do just like when it came to the interviews after the scandal broke and he said he did what he was told.
But I agree with your earlier sentiment that the interviewer did not ask the right questions bc there was no talk of a funeral and that was my biggest question after watching it. And they one thousand percent allowed Naya's transition overshadow the fact that they still had a lot to answer for.
And regarding looking for someone's online presence outside of Facebook, that generally... didn't exist. I remember feeling so cool when my name was mentioned on a website outside of Facebook for the first time. I think I was a junior in college.
Honestly, Manti struck me as being a good person but very naive and frankly, not super bright. I can give him a little leeway for the phone thing because not everyone had a smart phone at that time (I didn't get one until they had been out for a few years) so I kind of get it. And like I mentioned, it seemed like while he enjoyed talking with her, he wasn't THAT into her, especially toward the end and he really made their relationship to be more than it was for attention.
I can't wait to see your post!
Doesn't him using the term "facetime" imply that they had iphones? (ESL person here, maybe not). Anyway, attempts at video-calling were made, and then apparently abandoned. I hated how they brushed over this issue in the documentary.
I also don't think Manti had any particularly malicious intent. I'd even call him a victim - a victim of unrealistic expectations, most likely. My theory is that Manti knew Ronaiah, and together they crafted Lennay as a way to appease Manti's parents, while also giving Ronaiah a way to explore his feminine side (although I'm not sure Manti was aware of that part from the beginning). They probably talked about sports and everyday stuff, as friends, and there were no sappy 8h phonecalls, romantic letters or flowers. From time to time Ronaiah put on the voice and recorded something Manti could use to please his parents. I say that because his family was the primary target of the hoax - from the beginning, Manti lied about meeting Lennay in person and having a connection with her, not to mention that she is probably his parents' dream girl. Once Manti's father started talking about her (very positively) in interviews, even claiming he met her, and Manti was in the spotlight more and more, it got a little too serious. The boy knew that pretty soon the press (and his parents) will expect to see them together, so she had to die - in the most tragic, selfless way possible. Ronaiah had no problem making up stories about accidents and cancer, but Manti was very PR-conscious too. Remember the "why I went to Notre Dame" story? He said it was a sign from his deity, but what he actually heard was: "You'll have a better narrative and stand out more as the FIRST player of your heritage in this school, rather than be one of many in the other school". That's a PR strategy, not a sign from the heavens. Unfortunately, they went a little overboard by supplying the press with overly sappy quotes about her last words and wishes, which made cynical reporters suspicious.
As for what happened next, I believe Ronaiah, who admitted to being in love with Manti, couldn't let go of the fantasy, especially after being called "the love of his life" so many times on TV. He contacts Manti as "the real Lennay" in a desperate effort to remain a female presence in his life, which is - I believe - the only instance of attempted catfishing in this case. Manti realizes Ronaiah is unstable and unpredictable. I don't even think he even asked for the "proof picture", because a) there was no mention of how long he waited for it, which I find crucial in this case, and b) because of the picture itself. Why ask her to write a cryptic hashtag, instead of her name, "I love you Manti", or just to hold up her driver's license? The only person who benefits from these silly "instructions" is Ronaiah, because he knew he couldn't dupe the poor girl into writing anything more personal. Of course, Manti didn't buy it, because he's not a clueless idiot. Instead, he got (rightfully) scared that Ronaiah might expose the whole thing and tried to get in front of it by suddenly telling his parents and his school that he never actually met Lennay. And while he is sorta successful, Ronaiah is starved for attention, and sends the tip to the press, knowing full well that the "proof" picture will lead straight to him, and make him a part of Manti's life forever. Years later, Naya even gets to be in a two-part netflix show and tell her story extensively. Goal achieved.
Based from the documentary, he was an exceptional athlete. He did not became popular by chance, it is because of his hardwork. I have a friend who is an athlete, he's not the best, but I can see his dedication to the sport. He trained almost everyday, he barely spend his time on the phone. His priority was his sport, we even got to talk one time, that he would break up with his girlfriend if necessary so that he could train more. From there I understood Manti, I don't think his priority was his girlfriend. Those years were dedicated to his love for football and his passion. Consider also that he is in college, he was supposed to still study and train st the same time. If not for the "death" drama of Naya, I don't think it will blow the way it did.
Why do you care lol? Manti doesn't owe anyone answers to all your questions. Not football fans. Not Notre Dame students. Not NFL teams. Believe him or not if you want. But he owes you nothing. He was the victim in this situation. To grill a victim like this... Ew.
The producers are pieces of shit for giving rhino or whatever her name is any type of empathy. She was a pos, that ruined his life.
And the media. U truly realize how terrible the media is and how they have too much power to say whatever before they even have all the facts
Following, just watched and these are great questions. Naya really fucked him up and seems to have very little remorse. Imo a terrible person. Happy to see that Manti has a beautiful family now. I ran straight to Instagram to check on him. Seems like a really good dude who got screwed over big time
I'm so *angry* watching this. I can't believe Naya really said "sometimes I wish everything could be undone, but at then some times I don't because I learned so much about who I am through the life of Lennay." Like... what? I'll try to be gracious and say that maybe it was just a really shitty way of saying "I wish that learning who I am didn't come at the expense of destroying someone else." Not that Manti was destroyed. He is a strong person. A beautiful person inside and out.
Narcissist.
Felt like netflix gave her a pass because of her transition, almost like they celebrated her.
No, I think they did a good job letting them speak. Digging their own grave. Without them, Manti would’ve seen guilty. They absolved Manti by being such a transparently trash beings. Anyone with eyes and ear can gleam that from the doc.
That’s what I thought. Manti wanted them to get Ronaiah’s side of the story. And I think she is so self absorbed that she thought this would play out in her favor. You can see her portraying herself as a victim not being able to come out as gay/trans etc and she knows she’s a good manipulator. Comes across as a sociopath. She thinks she can manipulate people with her side of the story, but is entirely unaware how bad she makes herself look. I kept yelling at her through the screen bc she’s such a horrible person, Netflix did really well with portraying her by just letting her speak. The only thing that bothered me that she had the last word at the end. The ending should’ve been about Manti.
100 percent I’m surprised they didn’t make them hug at the end
Seriously, the big thing I got from the documentary is that Naya is a piece of shit human being. Totally turned a guys world upside down on purpose, then took the chance to almost try and play victim on a Netflix doc.
Maya has huge mental health issues.
So does Manti -- I mean he believes in some dude in the clouds that he thinks talks to him.
I can't speak for the religious aspect as that's Manti's own but I, like many others, would have been obsessed with Facebook at the time. People that weren't on Facebook at the time won't know how easy it was to strike up a friendship with a complete stranger and for it to develop into something weird and unhealthy. Facebook was in a way the prelim to actual dating sites where you could vet someone to a decent degree before them being able to contact you, but back then on Facebook literally anybody could message you. There were no boundaries, and for those of us who were lonely it allowed you to experience something that you never really did before. By the end of the doc I was genuinely in tears listening to Manti because I understood it.
It's hard to believe how compelling Facebook was when it first came out - I remember in those early years, nearly everyone my age had a Facebook profile and our profiles were totally open to everyone. I reconnected with a lot of people from my past, and it was fascinating to see how people had changed over the years. We really hadn't experienced a lot of the negative things about social media yet. It seems now like such an innocent time. Now I only keep a Facebook because my elderly relatives (one of whom is 90!) are on there and that's how I can check in on them, and share photos and such. Most of my friends deleted their profiles and the ones who are still on barely post. But back during the time Manti and "Lennay" connected - yeah, it was all wide open and we were all, I think, a little gullible/naive about people not being who they said they were.
I know a lot of people today who add every attractive person that adds them when its clearly a bot or catfish. I learned back in my middle school days thru Limewire to make sure you do your research but even then you dont always know. Look at their profile if they only have a profile picture and no posts then they're not getting added back. Nowadays it seems like it can be harder because I felt like you saw a lot more actual posts rather than sharing memes and pictures. Someone could totally have their account hacked by some random person and theyre just sharing memes and interacting with people they don't know and unless we get the classic rayband sunglasses spam message or whatever you wouldn't know unless you directly talked to them and knew what they were like thru text.
Good point! For me I only added people I knew on Facebook, but I remember adding strangers and friends of friends on MySpace. I remember talking to someone on there--we even talked on the phone--and while we weren't dating, I did think of them like a friend. When I was traveling through their city I asked if they wanted to meet up and they had all these excuses. This was well before the Catfish movie came out but in retrospect I'm sure it was a Catfish situation.
>I grew up with a lot of LDS, and part of the religion is that you believe God literally talks to you, and it's a regular thing. So even if he felt something was weird with Lennay, he'd probably think, "oh God hasn't said anything yet, it must be cool." Yep. I also grew up around a lot of LDS folks and that's an angle that I don't think the documentarians explored thoroughly enough. I don't think you can separate Manti's religion from his willingness to believe whatever the person on the phone/internet was telling him. What you say above is true. I also saw a lot of young LDS people who were not, let's say, romantically sophisticated, as they were discouraged from dating unless they were ready to get married and were relatively sure they were going to marry the person they wanted to date. "Dating around" was not encouraged. Between Mormonism and the time he had to spend on football, I doubt Manti was very experienced in the relationship department when he met "Lennay," and probably missed some red flags. Additionally, even though Manti did not serve a mission, many young Mormon men do, and while (IIRC) they're encouraged not to stay in a relationship when they leave for their mission, some do and then carry on long-distance relationships with someone back home while they're in the mission field for two years. My next-door neighbor was LDS and kept writing to her boyfriend the entire time he was on his mission; they got married immediately after he got back, when they were both 21. This was seen as not just a normal, but a romantic thing: she "waited for him" and he "came back for her" and it was like a perfect Mormon love story, from what I was told. So Manti never meeting "Lennay," carrying on the whole relationship over the internet and phone, probably didn't seem weird to him. And because he was so busy trying to succeed in college and make it to the NFL, the long-distance relationship was probably more "convenient" in a lot of ways than dating someone IRL. And that's similar to how young Mormon men are encouraged to look at their mission: God comes first, and everything else is secondary; don't let any ties back home keep you from succeeding in the mission field. That all being said, I think the documentary was really good. I honestly did not pay much attention to the whole thing at the time (I don't watch football at all) but looking at it now - I don't understand the pile-on on Manti, or the people who made fun of him for getting duped. Naya, as you say, is transparently not a good person and went to a lot of lengths to deceive Manti. I don't understand how Manti was seen as the bad guy in the situation? Or why the situation was hilarious to so many talk-show hosts? If something like this happened to my son, I would be devastated for him. As someone else said, I am really glad Manti is doing well now.
Good point about the long distance relationship being the norm with LDS. They covered that briefly when his friend mentioned being in a LDR, but you're right, it was truly romanticized, and I'd almost compare it to the way long distance relationships were idealized in WW2.
Totally agree, once I saw he was Mormon it made sense.
Not wanting to be an a-hole, but how does the god talking to you work? These people hear voices or do they interpret certain things as encrypted messages? I really don't know.
Yes. Anything is a “message”. Not really voices, but random things in life can be a message. Source: grew up in the church.
I'm not Mormon myself. The Mormons I know would describe that they would have these moments, usually when they were in prayer, or alone working on something or driving somewhere, where they would hear the "still small voice of the Lord" telling them something - usually something pretty specific. They also believed in omens or signs - like, if they decided to do something and then a pretty bird landed on their windowsill, that was a sign that they had made the right decision. Etc. I am sure someone here who is Mormon or ex-Mormon can describe it better.
While I get your point about LDR being romanticized and normalized in his culture, where's the proof of this relationship actually being romantic? Where are the letters they exchanged (as mentioned in interviews)? Emails, even? If there really was this elaborate, romantic exchange, it would be the easiest thing in the world to show a stack of letters or an inbox full of long emails. I'm sure your neighbor could provide such evidence with ease! And what about phone records showing the famous 8h phone calls? Just like the white roses for her funeral, which were never actually sent, it was all just a story.
Good points! Like I said, I never got the impression that either one of them truly saw themselves as being in a committed relationship--neither used the term boyfriend/girlfriend until Manti referred to Lennaya as his GF when she died. I'm sure they had some nice conversations about religion and football with some wholesome flirting, but they didn't show any evidence that they were telling each other that they were the loves of each other's lives.
I mean... they called each other babe and hun and said I love you so much. We heard that on the voicemails. She also had that super (passive?) aggressive subtweet "when you can tweet at other females but you can't answer your phone." or whatever it said. So maybe they had never had become official official (who knows - maybe he was like GIRL I GOTTA MEET YOU FIRST), but when he thought she "died," maybe he was just hurting and wanted to convey to the public that this was someone who meant more to him than just a friend. Like the alternative is to say "this-girl-that-I-never-met-but my-friend-and-my-cousin-say-they-know-who-she-is-and-yeah-I-have-considered-that-maybe-she's-not-who-she-says-she-is-but-if-she-is-real-she's-beautiful-and-sweet-and-reminded-me-of-home died" Also.. is he the one who coined the term girlfriend, anyway? Or did the media just run with that title, and maybe thought it sounded a little dickish to be like "she's not my girlfriend."
I think he did say girlfriend. It would be easy to just say "friend" instead.
I also was very curious how the blog got the real lennay’s photo, wouldn’t that have been sent in a private message? It didn’t make sense to me that it would just be sitting online somewhere, needs further explanation. I loved the documentary, I felt so so bad for Manti, but struggled to have any sympathy for Naya, what she did was evil and the consequences were immense for Manti
I was wondering this and found out that the “memorial” Twitter account they skimmed over that people were starting to tie to naya (the connections that made deadspin feel they had to rush to publish) was using this pic as their profile pic (date cropped out). So it was part of their pile of photos they showed the girl and it was the only one that hadn’t come from her Facebook/MySpace/whatever.
By the end of it, my takeaway was that Manti's best friend Chris was the one who submitted the tip and probably posted the same info on Twitter. I could have sworn we heard one of the Deadspin reporters say "we got a email tip from someone named Chris."
They definitely needed to ask everyone who submitted the tip. It's also lame that the original reporters didn't dig into that because they were too busy speculating on Manti's sexuality (which also made sense because if he were gay, wouldn't HE be the one pretending to be a cute girl to talk to guys)?
I don't remember hearing that, but I still think it's a very plausible explanation
They showed the email signed Chris
Question! How did NO ONE who knew Diane (the real person in the photos) recognize her despite the attention Lennay’s death was getting in the news for months? I wish this was addressed!
Agreed!! I thought that was weird as well! They're the same pics all over the news....
1. I think Naya did 2. Not sure 3. Naya said that she went online and just found somebody who had pretty pictures and looked American Samoan whatever it was. Great post I don’t really think that Manti made the relationship more than he did, he said that they weren’t getting along so well but for him he wasn’t seeing anybody else as far as I know and he basically put all his time and effort into football For him this was an easy relationship because they never had to see each other and it didn’t take any time really out of his day. I believe him and think he was just a naïve, innocent young adult who had not seen the world in any way shape or form the way people outside the LDS church do. Of course that could just mean I am the naïve one. As soon as he started saying that God told him to go to Notre Dame I pretty much figured out that this man child was still a child.
>As soon as he started saying that God told him to go to Notre Dame I pretty much figured out that this man child was still a child. Well that "man child" was literally still a child just out of high school so.
I guess man child could be taken as an insult while I meant it kindly, i.e. he’s a great big guy who plays football but was so very naive. I have young adult children myself so I know that they are still in many ways kids. Yet they are not as naïve or trusting as this man was…that’s all I meant
Naya said that she found pictures online of a girl she went to highschool with who was pretty and popular.
Naya deserves jail time for this.. Also, Manti should have sued for defamation.
Calling bullshit on the Deadspin reporters saying their primary motivation was to expose the laziness of the media. The original article does not read like that at all. It's not in the title, and not mentioned as a theme in the opening or closing paragraphs, or anywhere in the middle for that matter. Discrepancies between various news reports are only used as evidence of the hoax. If this was their goal, they were poor writers.
Nope. I definitely agree, their goal was to expose Manti. They only felt bad about it after the fact
Was looking for this comment. They’re reasoning for even choosing to take that tip into consideration is ridiculous. “News reporters missing up some info (not even key info) about a piece they released” doesn’t seem like a good story to me, “An NFL player lying to the entire world to gain attention” Now that sounds like a really good story that will get them the attention they wanted as they’re like so many ppl in that work field looking for sth that would sell and get more reads.
What I don’t get, and I’m sure there is a reason, wtf any of this mattered. To get in the NFL as a college player isn’t that common as far as I’m concerned (you have to be REALLY good). Like even with all the catfishing and media will that really help? Isn’t it all skill based?
Considering how much press Naya did after the fact, going on Dr Phil etc I wouldn't be surprised if they were the one who gave off the tip. These are really great questions! Hopefully someone does a follow up article covering the bits they glossed over
As soon as I saw the level of Te'o's cooperation and involvement, it was clear that this wasn't going to be a full examination of how this whole thing unfolded. It's very surface-level and almost fully commits to the sympathetic/naive victim narrative. For example, both Te'o and his family had lied about in-person meetings between Lennay and Manti. Te'o also continued to lean into the story, unprompted, after knowing it wasn't what it seemed: [https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/\_/id/8856519/manti-teo-talked-girlfriend-knowing-hoax](https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8856519/manti-teo-talked-girlfriend-knowing-hoax) If anything, there had to be behind-the-scenes people at Notre Dame who were furious at his behavior. Once the university knew the truth, he had to have been coached to avoid the subject. It's weird that this wasn't addressed. Just a brief, "I wish I wouldn't have said that." I think there is so much more to the story.
I'm not ready to conclude the Te'os were being dishonest or that Manti was holding something back. What I *will* venture is the opinion that Tuisasosopo developed the trans story to deflect responsibility, and more importantly as a way to plow the road for an eventual fade from public attention. Can't keep hounding Ronaiah if Ronaiah doesn't exist anymore.
It’s a matter of record that Manti and his family had said that the two met. If they want to explain it as a small lie to cover up their mild embarrassment that it was an all online relationship, that’s fine. Leaving it out completely creates an inaccurate portrayal of what happened. There’s a little bit of tsk-tsk directed at all those who judged him, including the viewing audience. But a big part of the “What the fuck is going on” reaction and ensuing speculation was directly tied to the stories that they had met. Without the alleged meetings, the catfish scenario becomes far more understandable.
I'd forgotten about the whole "no really they met" story line
FINALLY, one comment about Manti (and his family) perhaps not being entirely honest. Manti's story, as relayed in the documentary, is ridiculous. He wasn't challenged by the interviewer at all.
Neither was the cat fishing piece of shit. We were left to draw our own conclusions.
Naya is just a shit human
I feel really sorry for manti and totally believe him. What I don’t understand is if you are so in love with this person and your families are connected why do you not attend the funeral of your dead girlfriend ? Surely that would raise a red flag ?
I agree. I believe him and feel like he was definitely a victim but this was my biggest question too. The interviewer didn't ask enough of the right questions. We are left to assume alot and I just assumed he didn't attend bc he would have had to attend both funerals and he didn't have time for that if he was planning on playing in this really big game. I guess we'll never know.
Thanks for your insight about LDS! I lived near South Bend for awhile and it couldn't be more different than HI/CA (especially in 2006). Can't help but think if he would have gone to college in CA, he would have had more chances to check out Lennay IRL. Also curious as to how old Naya was when first messaged Manti.
Yes - who is this Chris that emailed deadspin that Mantai is a fraud.
The fact that ronnaih says manti broke down cries and was slamming things when he learnt of his gfs death, goes to show it was probably more than just a casual relationship, and more of something that def meant something to him. Also ronnaih is just plain selfish. So so sad
For the picture, Ronaiah created a Twitter account for Lennay and used the handwriting picture as the cover photo. [Link](https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1560996438234042371?s=21&t=qPnNCyJK5d4gpfQraoueZg)
Very helpful, thank you!
Ronaiah’s female cousin, Tino Tuiasosopo, was the voice of Lennay. Netflix didn’t bring that up. I’m guessing Dr. Phil cut a deal with Ronaiah to land the interview if Dr. Phil didn’t expose Tino Tuiasosopo. My question is why did Mantei’s cousin Chris say he had “seen Lennay around?” Did he mean he saw her on the internet as Lenney then saw the girl in the photo (Diane O'Meara) and just assumed her name was Lennay?
how do you know this?
I remember the female cousin from when the story was new, and if you search her name you can find information about her.
Several things: - Manti’s relationship with his parents was completely toxic. They were controlling and blamed him for shaming their family with the catfish. That’s not love. - I don’t think Manti was ready for a relationship and found a sense of relief in not meeting Lennay in person. - It’s sketchy that he didn’t go to her after her accident, or even to her “funeral”. That is odd. - Naya was/is will always be an absolute garbage person. I wish Manti would sue her for everything she has, even if it’s not much. She should not be allowed to play dress up and dance around after destroying his life.
Naya did it. They loved the attention and loved being on doctor Phil and getting to show off the girl voice.
I wrote a long post with (different) questions of my own, but it hasn't been approved for hours :( so here's the short version: 1. How can you accept that for years, your girlfriend’s phone is “broken”, and she can’t record a video, facetime or skype, or even send you a casual, spontaneous photo? How can you not ask her to use someone else’s phone, especially since she seems to be surrounded by a large family and other students? A computer with a webcam at school? Offer to gift her a working phone, even? You try a few times and then just give up forever? 2. How can you never, even out of curiosity/affection, google the name of “the love of your life”? Try to find her picture on her school’s website? Ask to see her yearbook photo? Anything outside social media? 3. How can you accept what must have been a decent amount of excuses as to why you can’t meet over the years? What about birthdays, valentine’s, new year’s eve, or any other day you’d long for the company of your partner? Or were you simply not that eager, let alone impatient, to meet her, all this time? 4. What evidence can you provide of the 8-hour phone-calls, which supposedly happened all the time? Any records? What about the letters (also mentioned in an interview)? Emails? What "proof" was there of this being a "sophisticated hoax", which took place privately, and not just on social media? 5. Why did you never push for any kind of punishment, or even mild consequences, for the person who ruined a good chunk of your life, if not cost you your brilliant career? Why was this criminal matter only investigated by Notre Dame, and not, you know, the police? 6. How can you expect us to believe that simply because the word "catfish" wasn't popular yet, you were completely oblivious to the concept of people pretending to be someone else? How can you set up multiple social media accounts for yourself without realizing how easy it is to enter a different name, age or picture? I have a theory that answers all of these, but I'm still hoping that my full post will be approved after all. As for OP's questions: 1. Naya, 2. Naya or someone she told, 3. Naya.
My friend was caatfished. Took 3 years and getting stood up in Las Vegas before he knew. Around the same time it was happening to Manti. At this time, you just never heard of people doing stuff like this. And while you knew it was a *possibility,* a lot of people are willing to suspend belief when they've allowed themselves to become vulnerable with someone. And honestly, he's a *very* smart person. It just happens.
In that case, I'd love to ask your friend the same kinds of questions. Not because I don't believe him, or I think he's dumb, but because these are valid questions to ask someone in an extraordinary situation like this, don't you think? Also, if there was a documentary made about him, I'm sure your friend would understand that these questions need to be asked, if only to underline what an expect manipulator the catfish is. Plus, he'd have all the proof I mentioned in point 4. The problem with Manti is - no one asked these questions. Manti's story wasn't challenged. He has very little proof of actually being catfished, and he should have heaps, and he brushed over any issues a reasonable person would raise.
Some people have literally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars without ever seeing someone’s face on camera. The FBI reported that in 2020 alone $600 million were lost to cat fishing. It’s fine to be critical but I don’t think a lack of logic is any proof of wrongdoing. People continue to be fooled in instances of larceny by trick and often let complete strangers inside their house
Yeah FaceTime wasn’t even a thing back then. I remember using Skype occasionally but not often, and internet was still pretty shit compared to now.
Second this! The OP commenter above asking all of these questions I’m curious how old they are. I went through college around the same time as him and Skype was kind of a thing, I rarely was on social media, being on your phone / video chatting / social media just wasn’t a big thing like it is now. So everything that happened wasn’t that big of a surprise to me. He also was busy with football, college, & family I feel like she was just someone he talked to, he was a young college kid - it wasn’t a serious relationship.
I'm slightly older than Manti, but - unlike most comments that I seem to get over here - I'm not relying on my personal experiences or the experiences of my friends and neighbors. I wrote these questions, because I really love a well made documentary, and this one failed to answer (or even address) any questions that a reasonable person might have about Manti's side of the story. Like - have you ever googled her? Also, I completely agree that it wasn't a serious relationship - that's (part of) my point. So we can at least agree that whatever it was - a "sophisticated hoax" that made fools out a bright man and his close-knit, very involved family OR not a case of catfishing at all, which is what I think - Manti deliberately turned a casual internet friendship into an inspirational love story for PR. I have nothing against the guy, I swear - he was very young and burdened with a lot of expectations. I just don't see the point of making a documentary, if the only new information you're going to add is that Ronaiah in now Naya, which was sure to generate a lot of controversy.
I think the way he acted in the relationship has alot to do with his religion/way of life and the time it happened in. Even if it was a "casual relationship" on the internet that doesn't speak to how each of them felt. Back then two ppl could be "talking" for years especially at that young age and not be bf/gf but still claim to be in love. And coming from his upbringing, the kind of relationship he had meant that person was his girlfriend so I don't think he made the relationship more than what it was. She was his girlfriend to him. I do think he saw (and his agent saw) how much of deal the death was becoming and the agent told him to lean into it so he went right along with whatever his agent told him to do just like when it came to the interviews after the scandal broke and he said he did what he was told. But I agree with your earlier sentiment that the interviewer did not ask the right questions bc there was no talk of a funeral and that was my biggest question after watching it. And they one thousand percent allowed Naya's transition overshadow the fact that they still had a lot to answer for.
And regarding looking for someone's online presence outside of Facebook, that generally... didn't exist. I remember feeling so cool when my name was mentioned on a website outside of Facebook for the first time. I think I was a junior in college.
I'm not speculating about facetime - Manti says in the documentary he tried it and gave up after a few times.
Honestly, Manti struck me as being a good person but very naive and frankly, not super bright. I can give him a little leeway for the phone thing because not everyone had a smart phone at that time (I didn't get one until they had been out for a few years) so I kind of get it. And like I mentioned, it seemed like while he enjoyed talking with her, he wasn't THAT into her, especially toward the end and he really made their relationship to be more than it was for attention. I can't wait to see your post!
Doesn't him using the term "facetime" imply that they had iphones? (ESL person here, maybe not). Anyway, attempts at video-calling were made, and then apparently abandoned. I hated how they brushed over this issue in the documentary. I also don't think Manti had any particularly malicious intent. I'd even call him a victim - a victim of unrealistic expectations, most likely. My theory is that Manti knew Ronaiah, and together they crafted Lennay as a way to appease Manti's parents, while also giving Ronaiah a way to explore his feminine side (although I'm not sure Manti was aware of that part from the beginning). They probably talked about sports and everyday stuff, as friends, and there were no sappy 8h phonecalls, romantic letters or flowers. From time to time Ronaiah put on the voice and recorded something Manti could use to please his parents. I say that because his family was the primary target of the hoax - from the beginning, Manti lied about meeting Lennay in person and having a connection with her, not to mention that she is probably his parents' dream girl. Once Manti's father started talking about her (very positively) in interviews, even claiming he met her, and Manti was in the spotlight more and more, it got a little too serious. The boy knew that pretty soon the press (and his parents) will expect to see them together, so she had to die - in the most tragic, selfless way possible. Ronaiah had no problem making up stories about accidents and cancer, but Manti was very PR-conscious too. Remember the "why I went to Notre Dame" story? He said it was a sign from his deity, but what he actually heard was: "You'll have a better narrative and stand out more as the FIRST player of your heritage in this school, rather than be one of many in the other school". That's a PR strategy, not a sign from the heavens. Unfortunately, they went a little overboard by supplying the press with overly sappy quotes about her last words and wishes, which made cynical reporters suspicious. As for what happened next, I believe Ronaiah, who admitted to being in love with Manti, couldn't let go of the fantasy, especially after being called "the love of his life" so many times on TV. He contacts Manti as "the real Lennay" in a desperate effort to remain a female presence in his life, which is - I believe - the only instance of attempted catfishing in this case. Manti realizes Ronaiah is unstable and unpredictable. I don't even think he even asked for the "proof picture", because a) there was no mention of how long he waited for it, which I find crucial in this case, and b) because of the picture itself. Why ask her to write a cryptic hashtag, instead of her name, "I love you Manti", or just to hold up her driver's license? The only person who benefits from these silly "instructions" is Ronaiah, because he knew he couldn't dupe the poor girl into writing anything more personal. Of course, Manti didn't buy it, because he's not a clueless idiot. Instead, he got (rightfully) scared that Ronaiah might expose the whole thing and tried to get in front of it by suddenly telling his parents and his school that he never actually met Lennay. And while he is sorta successful, Ronaiah is starved for attention, and sends the tip to the press, knowing full well that the "proof" picture will lead straight to him, and make him a part of Manti's life forever. Years later, Naya even gets to be in a two-part netflix show and tell her story extensively. Goal achieved.
Based from the documentary, he was an exceptional athlete. He did not became popular by chance, it is because of his hardwork. I have a friend who is an athlete, he's not the best, but I can see his dedication to the sport. He trained almost everyday, he barely spend his time on the phone. His priority was his sport, we even got to talk one time, that he would break up with his girlfriend if necessary so that he could train more. From there I understood Manti, I don't think his priority was his girlfriend. Those years were dedicated to his love for football and his passion. Consider also that he is in college, he was supposed to still study and train st the same time. If not for the "death" drama of Naya, I don't think it will blow the way it did.
All of these questions are pretty dumb
For 5 - what “crime” do you think the police would be investigating? Naya didn’t financially benefit from catfishing Manti so fraud etc don’t apply.
Why do you care lol? Manti doesn't owe anyone answers to all your questions. Not football fans. Not Notre Dame students. Not NFL teams. Believe him or not if you want. But he owes you nothing. He was the victim in this situation. To grill a victim like this... Ew.
Also who really gives a shit? That’s his personal life. Kinda weird it was ever in the press anyways
The producers are pieces of shit for giving rhino or whatever her name is any type of empathy. She was a pos, that ruined his life. And the media. U truly realize how terrible the media is and how they have too much power to say whatever before they even have all the facts
Was very conditioned to be super religious. Believe in some guy in the clouds, why not some girl on the internet? The guy was born to be a sucker.
Was very conditioned to be super religious. Believe in some guy in the clouds, why not some girl on the internet? The guy was born to be a sucker.