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Posted

Now the Arizona Cardinals Fullback Reagan Mauia, is claiming the girl is real and he knew her. This gets stranger by the minute.

 

"This was before her and Manti," Mauia said Wednesday evening. "I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was... I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

 

http://sports.yahoo....606--ncaaf.html

 

I posted this eariler this morning

 

Earlier today, Deadspin published a report that Kekua, who the press was told died of leukemia in September, was in fact a fictional person created as part of an elaborate online hoax. Contradicting that report, former Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Maui'a has told ESPN that not only is Lennay Kekua a real person, but that he personally met her while doing charity work in Samoa with Troy Polamalu and other Polynesian athletes. Maui'a claims they were introduced by her cousin, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo:

After the initial meeting, Mauia said he met her at an "after-party" for all of the athletes involved in the camp.

"She was tall," he said. "Volleyball-type of physique. She was athletic, tall, beautiful. Long hair. Polynesian. She looked like a model ... "

He said it is his understanding that Kekua's mother is operating her Twitter account. He said he'd never met her mother. When told by a reporter that she apparently might not have existed, Mauia said: "No, she is real."

The report contradicts Notre Dame athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, who told reporters Wednesday night that Kekua is a fictional character created to perpetrate a hoax against star Irish linebacker Manti Te'o.

Tuiasosopo, a former high school football star and current professional musician, was cited by Deadspin as the person behind Lennay Kekua's apparently fictional persona. Tuiasosopo is reportedly a close friend of the Te'o family.

Te'o and members of his family had previously told reporters that the two had met after a game between Notre Dame and Stanford, and that Kekua had visited Hawaii to see Te'o's family. Swarbrick confirmed tonight that those reports were false, saying it was a "purely online relationship."

Posted

Now the Arizona Cardinals Fullback Reagan Mauia, is claiming the girl is real and he knew her. This gets stranger by the minute.

 

"This was before her and Manti," Mauia said Wednesday evening. "I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was... I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

 

http://sports.yahoo....606--ncaaf.html

This is likely all just subterfuge.

Posted (edited)

 

 

So meeting someone who didn't exist is ok if it's only once?

 

to match a face to a name one time is much easier then repeatedly over years if you are running this scam.

 

repeated in person meetings are much harder to maintain than once, and then totally phone and facebook

Edited by NoSaint
Posted (edited)

This Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is a USC Fan See the scarf

 

0117-ronaiah-article-tmz-12.jpg

 

could this Hoax have something to do with USC vs Notre Dame game

Edited by Hater
Posted

So meeting someone who didn't exist is ok if it's only once?

 

There's a big difference between meeting some 'who doesn't exist' and meeting someone who represents that they are someone other than who they really are.

Posted

This Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is a USC Fan See the scarf

 

 

 

could this Hoax have something to do with USC vs Notre Dame game

 

it seems hes done this to a lot of people - id guess it has more to do with the samoan background and the teo just happened to be the big name that he got out of it.

Posted

Just because people say he's had many girlfriends doesn't mean it's true or that Manti even enjoyed his "time" with said girls.

 

I just can't see any other motivation behind this story. It defeats all logic.

 

The new story at Deadspin involves information from football teammates who wanted to remain nameless, for obvious reasons.

 

They speak of a "general awareness" on the team that the girlfriend was a setup, that Te'o knew it (eventually) and that he was a great actor to keep the story going once he realized it was having a positive impact on his career. Further, the articles speaks of a "general awareness" (my words) on campus that Te'o was running around with a bunch of girls.

 

I put value into the reports from the unnamed teammates b/c they ring of the truth and are filled with common sense.

 

Like, of course his teammates who he is around all the time would know what's up, and of course word would get out (eventually) that it was all fake when too many things went down a certain path for too long. Like the g/f always cancelling just before she was to meet Te'o in person, etc.

 

And of course guys around Te'o would know that he's shagging a bunch of chicks on campus.

 

Come on....that all makes perfect sense!

 

A story that Te'o was totally, 100% fooled from beginning to December 6th makes no sense. Requires too many mental gymnastics to make it all work somehow...

Posted

With the passage of every minute in which Te'o does not speak in person or arrange a television interview, he looks more and more guilty.

 

Looking the other way and hoping this all calms down is not the action of an innocent victim.

 

Presumably he is working with professional spin doctors as we speak for how to handle this and when. Again, all necessitated by the fact that he is NOT purely innocent in my estimation.

 

The innocent victim doesn't need a bunch of time to get his ducks in a row...the guilty guy does.

Posted

it seems hes done this to a lot of people - id guess it has more to do with the samoan background and the teo just happened to be the big name that he got out of it.

 

Why is this guy wanting to hurt fellow Samoans, is he gaining financially from it, is it self hate of his race, this is just so bizarre story

Posted

 

 

Why is this guy wanting to hurt fellow Samoans, is he gaining financially from it, is it self hate of his race, this is just so bizarre story

 

because thats the community he is a part of? i mean, i dont want to put too much of my own assumption in here.

 

i dont think it was lets go screw over some samoans as much as he had a connection with fellow samoan athletes which made it a bit more organic to grow there. it also seems he was using these profiles to gain access himself and become friends with the people. if he used lennay to become friends with teo - it worked and got him some special treats and attention along the way.

Posted

Apparently, this type of internet scam/hoax is so common there is a term for it "catfish" and a TV show! Who knew?

 

 

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=18235437

 

That's been mentioned many times throughout this thread and the movie "CATFISH" was referenced in the original piece at deadspin breaking the news.

 

Other than that, you may have an interesting new angle here!

Posted

because thats the community he is a part of? i mean, i dont want to put too much of my own assumption in here.

 

i dont think it was lets go screw over some samoans as much as he had a connection with fellow samoan athletes which made it a bit more organic to grow there. it also seems he was using these profiles to gain access himself and become friends with the people. if he used lennay to become friends with teo - it worked and got him some special treats and attention along the way.

Yup; criminals and scam artists tend to work within their own communities because those are the people they know best. The better you know people, the easier it is to deceive them.

Posted

This Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is a USC Fan See the scarf

 

0117-ronaiah-article-tmz-12.jpg

 

could this Hoax have something to do with USC vs Notre Dame game

 

Actually, I think he's a Gryffindor quidditch fan.....

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