I don't know about you, but I'm OBSESSED with "Catfish: The TV Show." (Last night's episode, with the hot A&F model-looking college kid in Michigan who got quite a surprise when he met his "dream girl," was the best episode yet. Hey, boo!!) But now we may be seeing the highest profile case of CATFISH-ing to date. Star Irish player Manti Te'o was apparently involved with a girl he met online named Lennay Kekua. As he was competing this season, tragedy struck -- so he opened up to the media letting them know his girlfriend had been involved in a tragic car accident ... and then later died (of leukemia?!). All of this happened within days of his grandmother passing away. His ability to continue playing well in the face of so much tragedy became the feel-good story of the year, making him a sympathetic figure with Heisman voters -- only now it turns the whole thing was a hoax. Some think he was behind it, perhaps letting the story get bigger and bigger in hopes of garnering sympathy and bring home that trophy at any cost. (He came in second, by the way.) But I get the feeling he was really duped -- perhaps by a family friend who had done this before, from what I've read -- and that even though he was a jock who could get "real" girls, he was more comfortable in an online relationship because he is a devout Mormon and it was easier to not be temped this way. It will be interesting to see if my gut is right on this. My coworkers are CONVINCED he had to be in on it -- but whatever the case, it's messed up.
Read Deadspin's way-too-long and way-too-convoluted account HERE.