Manti Te’o, the former Notre Dame linebacker who shocked the sports world with the bizarre story of a fake girlfriend told USA Today on Monday that he has stopped using social media since the incident.
The 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist shut down his verified Twitter account back on February 5, and said he was not sure if he would return to social media.
Te’o claims that he was the victim of a cruel hoax after it was revealed that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua never actually existed.
“It’s been a distraction for me,” Te’o said, “so I needed to get rid of it.
Te’o does not believe that the scandal will have any affect on his draft stock in this year’s NFL Draft, which will be held from April 25-27 in New York City, and still feels like he is a first-round pick. Before the scandal, which broke last month after a report from Deadspin, Te’o was a first-round lock. Now, some teams might pass on Te’o if they believe this scandal could be a cause for concern in the future.
Beginning on Wednesday night, Te’o will get his chance to tell teams his side of the story as executives from the 32 NFL teams hold 15-minute interview sessions. It is likely that just about every team will spend a large portion of their interview with Te’o discussing the scandal. Te’o went on to say that when it comes time for the interviews, he just needs to be himself, and everything else will fall into place.
Te’o Explaining Scandal to ABC’s Katie Couric
Photo Credit: Michael Conroy/AP
It’s probably best for the time being for Manti to stop using social media. He needs to focus on his training and getting drafted. However, after the draft, as soon as he realizes social media is essential to his brand and marketing opportunities as a professional athlete he will be back. The kid just has some growing up to do and trust me this will be old news if he kills it on the football field.