The Curious Te'o of Manti

It's been a fascinating week in US sports.

We have the NFL playoffs. We have the Lance Armstrong confession with Oprah Winfrey. And hey, hockey is also back, finally.

If that's not good enough, all of a sudden, we have this curious girlfriend hoax story involving Manti Te'o, the star linebacker of the resurgent Notre Dame.

No wonder they say that if you want to do something terribly evil, you'd better do it this week and you will fly under the radar thanks to these stories.

The details of the story are convoluted and complicated. In short, Te'o claimed that he had been duped into having a year-long online relationship with a woman named Lennay Kekua, who allegedly had a serious car crash, was diagnosed with leukemia, and died on the same day as Te'o's grandmother. Turned out that the two have never met as Kekua never existed. While Te'o claimed that he is a victim of the hoax, many suggested that he has played along with the hoax and, consequently, used his girlfriend's death as an inspiration for his team that went all the way to the national title game.

All in all, it raises serious doubt about Te'o's decision-making ability and, more importantly, sexuality.

Top linebacker prospects like Te'o are expected to be smart and able to make decisions on the field quickly. If Te'o has trouble figuring out he's been duped by the hoax, what does that tell you about his intelligence? He is eligible for the upcoming NFL Draft and he will definitely be grilled by all the teams during the Combine.

Even if the teams are satisfied that his intelligence and judgment are not a concern, many people will still have questions about his rumoured sexuality. One of the major fallouts of the story is that many are wondering that girlfriend hoax is a façade to cover his sexuality, as homophobia is still ongoing in professional sports, especially in the NFL.

Over the years, only a handful of fringe NFL players have come out after their retirement. Many claim that there are in fact a lot active homosexuals players in the league, but they all refuse to come out as they are way too clear of the backlashes.

Our society has changed a lot with people more open-mined about homosexuality. But come to think of it, the NFL is practically run by 32 "families" and some of them are noted for their conservative values. Prominent players have also hurled anti-gay slurs (Larry Johnson) and spoken out about not welcoming homosexual players on their teams (Jeremy Shockey and Garrison Hearst). Even if the rumours are incorrect, the suspicions and accusations surrounding him will be enough to scare some of the teams away. So don't be surprised to see Te'o, who has long been highly touted as a top-ten pick, to drop down the draft board, which will cost him millions of dollars.

To break that vicious cycle, they need a top player to come out during his career. Many people now wonder if that would be Te'o. Notre Dame said that had Deadspin not broken the news about the hoax, they would have addressed it two days later in what, some suspect, would have been the coming-out party of Te'o's.

Apparently they still have to wait.