02x01 - The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist (Part 1)

[bunniefuu]

[CLAPBOARD CLICKS]

[INTERVIEWER] So just look at the camera
when you're answering 'em, you know?

All right. Um...

Uh...

If someone were to say,
"I remember Manti as this,"

what would you want them
to remember you as?

[CLICKS TONGUE, EXHALES]

Manti Te'o had
an absolutely astounding senior year.

Without question.

His grandmother
and girlfriend, Lennay Kekua,

had died the same night,

and he dedicated his season to them.

I... cried. I yelled.

You take, you know, the love of my life.

Last thing she said to me was,
"I love you."

[MAN 1] It reached out to people

that had never watched ESPN
a day in their life.

Manti, you have made many of us all proud,
especially those of us from Hawaii.

- [PA ANNOUNCER] Manti Te'o!
- [CROWD CHEERING]

What a great story.
We know the adversity he's been through.

He lost his grandmother,
then his girlfriend passed away.

It's gonna be fun watching him succeed.

[MAN 1] It was an amazing story.

One problem.

His girlfriend did not exist.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

Just like the feel-good hit of the summer,
the Manti Te'o story isn't real.

What started as an inspirational story
deteriorated into a cruel, twisted hoax.

The initial response was
total bewilderment.

This was a very elaborate,
very sophisticated hoax

perpetrated for reasons
we can't fully understand.

The question tonight is,
is Manti Te'o in on this elaborate hoax?

[REPORTER 1] If this guy is in on this,
he's a sick human being.

He let this go on and on and on.

Why in the world would this guy perpetuate
something that big for that long?

[REPORTER 2] A lot of what you write
centers around this mysterious guy,

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.

The man who was allegedly behind it all.

Hey, what's up, everyone?
Um, this is Ronaiah.

Ronaiah was clearly the leader.
It was his brainchild.

[REPORTER 3] Was Manti in on the hoax?

The amount of voices, the amount
of cell phones, it was just crazy sh*t.

[LENNAY CRYING]
I don't know who answered your phone,

and I don't care. [SOBS]

You made it clear what you want.

[REPORTER 4] Is that Ronny?

[MAN 2] There was some dimension
of jealousy involved here.

- [REPORTER 4] Did you create Lennay?
- [CAMERA CLICKING]

I can honestly say
that I truly hate Ronaiah.

The most f*cked-up thing for me was,
what was the point in all this?

The only person
who can really answer this is Ronaiah.

It's in his best interest
to finally step up and talk to somebody.

The next shoe to drop
is really gonna be when Ronaiah,

who's allegedly the perpetrator
of the hoax,

if he comes out and speaks,
that will explain a lot.

[MUSIC FADES]

[INTERVIEWER] All right.
Ready to roll, Naya?

- Yeah.
- [INTERVIEWER] All right.

[INTERVIEWER] Manti?

Feeling good?

Yeah.

["YOUR SWEET LOVE" BY LEE HAZLEWOOD PLAYS]

♪ Stranger's arms ♪

♪ Reach out to me ♪

♪ 'Cause they know ♪

♪ I'm so lonely ♪

♪ Then my mind ♪

♪ Goes back to you ♪

♪ And your sweet love ♪

♪ Sees me through ♪

- ["YOUR SWEET LOVE" FADES]
- [INSECTS CHIRPING]

[WOMAN BREATHING DEEPLY]

[NAYA] From that time in 2013 till now,

there was a time
where I couldn't find a job.

People would see my name on applications
and automatically be like, "Oh no."

"Ronaiah, oh, the catfish Ronaiah?"

"Yeah, no, we don't want to hire them."

[BARCODE SCANNER BEEPS]

Back then, I wasn't where I'm at now,

where I'm currently going through
my own transition.

I don't really like to look back,

but I now see why... God never saved me.

I was raised in a huge family.

Everything was centered around faith,
around family, and football.

[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYS]

Sophomore year,
I started as a quarterback.

[CROWD CHEERING]

In our family, everybody played sports.

[WHISTLE BLOWS]

My dad played at USC.

My dad's brother, he played for the Rams.

And my dad's older cousin, Manu,
played for the Niners.

My cousin Marques played for the Raiders.

But I... hate football.

I just wanted to play football
out of obedience,

and I wanted to make my dad happy.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

But I totally felt this heaviness of fear.

I didn't have
that courage to just be like,

"You know what? This is who I am."

I truly believed in my heart,
being a natural-born male,

I could never be who I wanted.

That was when I had decided

that I would be able
to have that experience

in the life of a female.

Even if it were fake.

And so I created
this whole fictional character, Lennay.

There was this girl
that went to high school with me,

and I'd seen her around campus.

I was like, "Oh, she's really pretty."

She was a super sweet girl.
She was very popular.

And so I used her photos for Lennay.

Even though it's like
this whole fake profile,

it was really, like,
a lot of how I really am.

My interests. My, uh, taste in music.

It was me with a different name tag,

a different photo.

But as far as everything else,

it was... 100% me.

And then I got my first friend request
from a guy.

This is kind of what I want.

[SINISTER MUSIC PLAYING]

It was the start of what became,

literally, a black hole
that just consumed my life.

And I didn't care who I was hurting.

[SINISTER MUSIC STOPS]

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

[MANTI] I was born and raised in Hawaii.

A small little town on the north side
of the island of Oahu.

Laie is what they call it.
A special place.

Life is simple.

You know, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints is prevalent there.

In Polynesian culture,

you have those three pillars,
faith, family, football.

And that's what it is.

He was an incredibly obedient young man.

I mean, the only words
that would come out of his mouth was,

"Yes, Dad," or, "Yes, Mom."

[MANTI] Discipline is a huge thing
in Polynesian culture,

which is also a huge thing
in... in Christian belief,

um, which is a big thing in sports,
you know.

So there's a lot of commonalities
between everything.

I always told him, "After I'm long gone,
the Te'o name now sits with you."

[MANTI] My dad asked me
when I was five years old

what I wanted to be.

And I told him I wanted to be the best.

He took it literal, and he trained me.

He would film me run,

and we would spend hours
of me just running.

We'd go back on our little computer,
and he'd just play it by slowly,

like we gotta tweak this and tweak that.

I mean, there were times after games
when he was at Punahou that we came,

we put the cars here, shined the light
onto this... to this little work area...

- At night?
- Yeah, at about nine o'clock at night.

We're going through basic reads
that he missed that night.

[WOMAN SCREAMS] Come on, Manti. Let's go!

The purpose for doing football
is for your education

because there's no way that we can afford
to send you to a Stanford, a UCLA, a USC.

[BRIAN] Especially
when Dad's bringing home

only $300 every two weeks.

If you don't get a football scholarship,
you... you're not going to college.

And so everything
that we did was leading towards that.

You have to make it.

The thing that I remember most
about Manti as a kid

was just his passion for the game.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

Although he's about a foot taller than me,
you know, we call ourselves twins,

and I definitely look at him as a brother.

And the values that his parents instilled
in him made him great.

[ANNOUNCER 1] He gets pressure.
Gonna keep this ball on the ground,

try to pick up the first down,
and a big hit. That was Manti Te'o.

For my senior year,
I just came in and just took over.

[CROWD CHEERING]

[ANNOUNCER 2] Here's Te'o on the handoff.

Almost loses the football again.

Still trying to get forward yardage.
Still loose!

Te'o still on his feet!

Stretches for the first-down marker.
He refused to go down.

There's no running,
and there's no hiding from this guy.

[REPORTER] Manti Te'o,
one of the top linebacker prospects

in the nation.

The number one outside linebacker
in the nation.

Everybody in the country wants him. He is
the number one sought-after linebacker.

We're talking about the beast, Manti Te'o.

- [MUSIC BUILDING]
- [CROWD CHEERING]

To understand Notre Dame's unique place
in the landscape of college football,

uh, you have to understand
the history a little bit.

[ANNOUNCER 1] Here comes
The Fighting Irish...

[JACK] And that history's built
on great success.

[ANNOUNCER 1] ...the winningest university
in this football century.

[ANNOUNCER 2] A reverse forward pass.
There's Shakespeare fading back again.

There it goes. Oh, what a heave!

Millner spots it, and he's wide.
The game is over!

[JACK] Notre Dame has an identity
which is absolutely unique,

and I would argue,
the most significant brand

in college football.

This is fantastic.

In a very short period of time,

a program that wasn't really known
outside the Midwest

became a national football program
with a national following.

[ANNOUNCER 1] Houston, 34. Notre Dame, 28.

Montana... throwing.

And it's a touchdown!

A touchdown taken at the corner.

[CROWD CHEERING]

[ANNOUNCER 2] Notre Dame
will duly celebrate

a national championship. No doubt.

But following the early '90s,
Notre Dame lost its way a bit.

And it didn't enjoy, uh,
the same level of success.

[ANNOUNCER 1] Thirty-eight to nothing.

[ANNOUNCER 2] Notre Dame
with a stretch of ten losses

in its last fifteen games.

Notre Dame has lost
a record nine straight bowls,

winless since New Year's Day of '94.

[COMMENTATOR] Notre Dame needs time
to recruit personnel.

It is critical to this program
that we compete at the highest level.

That we compete
for national championships.

And as we go out now
and begin our search, that is our focus.

I'd certainly heard of Manti, um,

as a prospective student-athlete
at Notre Dame.

He was viewed as probably the best
at his position in the country.

So I was, of course, sure he wasn't coming
to the University of Notre Dame.

[ANNOUNCER] ...a hundred and forty.

[MANTI] For my senior year,
I was blessed to be highly recruited.

I think I had, like, almost 50 offers.

But I grew up a USC fan.

This was like at the pinnacle
of the USC reign.

[ANNOUNCER] Your BCS national champions,
the Trojans of USC.

[MANTI] And so I wanted to go to SC.

They had this big recruiting weekend.
The weekend right before signing day.

[WHISTLE BLOWS]

So I went to USC, had a great weekend.

Came back on Sunday,

and I told my family
I was going to go to SC.

My dad was like, "Okay. That's good.
Make sure you pray about it."

[BELL TOLLS]

The next day I'm sitting in class,

and I say,
"Heavenly Father, I want to go to SC,

but if you want me
to go somewhere else, help me."

[RELIGIOUS CHANTING]

So I walked up to the athletic office,

and there was a man
by the name of Gary Sataway.

He was like a father to me.

He said, "Hey, where we going, nephew?"
And I told him. I said, "I'mma go to SC."

And he was like, "You're gonna go to SC,

and you're gonna be the next great
Polynesian football player."

"I always thought you'd go to a place like
Notre Dame and be the only Manti Te'o."

And it was as if the Lord himself told me,
like, "I just gave you your answer."

And so I stood up.
I walked out of the room,

and, uh,

I kinda... I... I knew.

You know? I knew that the Lord
was trying to tell me something.

All of you represent Hawaii so proudly,
but one person who's been the focus

of the spotlight, white-hot media,
the endless questions, is Manti Te'o.

I know a lot of people are waiting to see
what hat you're going to choose.

[CROWD CHEERING]

I think... I've prayed hard about it,
and my family is...

We have all, you know, thought hard
and long about it.

[SNIFFLES] And, um, as of fall 2009,

I'll be joining Coach Charlie Weis
and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

[CROWD CHEERS, APPLAUDS]

[WOMAN] Notre Dame University!

[MANTI] When I signed
that letter of intent,

I signed that thing, like, sad.

I didn't want to go to Notre Dame.
I wanted to go to SC.

I was like, "Ain't no way...
like, I'mma go to South Bend, man."

But faith is stronger than all of that.

Trust in God
and trust in His plan for you,

and we'll see where this takes you.

[BELL TOLLS]

[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]

[MANTI] I get to Notre Dame,
and my culture shock started my first day.

I went from an island paradise
to Midwest freezing cold.

Very strong
Church of Jesus Christ community

to probably the most predominant
Catholic institution in the world.

It was a tough transition for him.

He called me one time,
and he was in tears.

He was like,
"Dad, I don't like this place."

"I don't wanna be here anymore."

[JACK] He never gave voice
to the challenges of acclimating,

but I heard it from other people, um,
so I was aware of it.

Not just of the culture shock of moving
from Hawaii to South Bend, Indiana,

but of the unique elements of his culture

that didn't necessarily fit foursquare
with this place.

Relating to his Mormon faith

in this environment
was something he had to work through.

At the end of the day, you know,
I chose to come here,

and, uh... so far,

I know from what's happened so far
that, you know, I made the right decision.

I always kinda felt like I can't show them
that I'm struggling.

But I just always thought,
"Heavenly Father...

[BELL TOLLS]

...tell me what to do."

[CLASSICAL MUSIC BUILDS, FADES]

♪ Hosanna ♪

♪ In the high... ♪

[NAYA] At that point in time,

I was back home
helping out my dad with the ministry.

♪ Let our King be lifted... ♪

[NAYA] The Lennay profile wasn't taking up
too much of my daily time,

but it was taking
a lot of my daily thoughts.

It was not necessarily a way out
but a way to somewhere else.

Like it was another room of the house

that I could go to, another escape
where I felt... you know, safe.

Because I felt, "Well, no one will know."

At that time, I knew for sure
there was something inside of me

that just wanted to scream
and be like, "Why am I different?"

And I didn't know what it was.

But I wanted something more real,

something where I can act upon
what makes me happy.

There were a couple of encounters online
where it was like, "This guy's cute."

"Let's see where this goes."

But in order for things
to seem more "real," obviously,

I had to create a family.

Something that made her existence
seem more believable.

You bring in whatever characters

to maintain the validity
of this whole person.

I even made myself Lennay's cousin.

I knew what was right and wrong,

but I was too far in love

with being looked at in this way.

Isn't this what you want?
Isn't this who you want to be?

And yes, it was completely selfish,
but it was what made me happy.

It was what I wanted to be a reality.

I remember I was in the computer room,

and I got a friend request.

[GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS]

It was just a picture of a girl
who just looked Polynesian,

and just started a simple conversation.
Nothing... nothing crazy.

"Hey, my name is Manti,"
you know what I mean?

It was just something
that was real casual.

His cousin was actually who I met first.

She would say,
"Oh, I... I know your cousin Shiloah."

I'm like, "Shi, do you know who this...
Do you know a girl by the name of Lennay?"

I remember Manti, uh, reaching out to me
about Lennay, and, uh, he just asked me,

do I know her, and I told him,
"Yeah, I talked to her before."

My relationship with her
was just like random calls.

Random texts.

Random hit-up here,
random hit-up there, you know,

and it was...
it kind of carried on that way.

The initial conversations
were just like, you know,

very, uh, surface,

very just like, "Hey, how are ya?"
It was never really anything, like, deep.

I didn't know what the hell I was doing,
because it was so new,

but I knew what I wanted.

- [HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
- [CROWD CHEERING]

[ANNOUNCER] It's opening day
for the 2009 season,

as the 23rd-ranked Irish
meet the Wolf Pack of Nevada

for the first time ever.

So we're set for the opener,

and the Irish players are sure glad
the time has come.

As we said, optimism high
among Notre Dame fans.

Everybody looking forward to the debut
for Manti Te'o, the highly touted recruit...

[MANTI] I remember my first game
against Nevada.

Whenever a guy is recruited
to whatever college,

the colleges want them
to help that team to get somewhere.

And I'm the freshman
that everybody's kind of banking on.

I wanted to show everybody
I am who they say I am.

[ANNOUNCER] The third team member
of our team is Alex Flanagan.

Let's check in with her. Alex?

Hey, Tom, as you watch this game today,
you're gonna notice something different...

Manti Te'o was a kid
whose reputation preceded him.

Notre Dame had huge expectations of him
before he even stepped onto campus.

There was an expectation
that he was gonna make an impact

the moment that he arrived in South Bend,
and it was a lot of pressure.

[CROWD CHEERING]

But he came with a friend named Robby Toma
who also from Hawaii,

so he had somebody
that he could kinda go through this with.

The first time we ran out of the tunnel,
there was 80,000 people.

[PA ANNOUNCER] Here come the Irish.

[CROWD CHEERING]

[ETHEREAL MUSIC PLAYS]

[MANTI] There's no bigger stage than that.

Manti actually got in
towards the end of the game.

[ANNOUNCER 1] The highly talented freshman
Manti Te'o of Notre Dame

is on the field for the first time.

[MANTI] When I stepped onto that field,

there are no doubts. There are no...

There's no anxiety, nothing.
It's like, "You know why I'm here, man."

"And I'm about to remind you."

[ANNOUNCER 1] A happy day for Irish fans
as they come out of the box.

There's, uh, Manti Te'o
with a cheer from the crowd.

Makes the hit. Third down and two.

But when I hit him,
I was like, "Yeah, I can do this."

"You know, I... I can do this for sure."

[ANNOUNCER 1]
He's already a crowd favorite.

He put on a big hit,
and the crowd got the first taste

of what they were gonna see
for four years.

[ANNOUNCER 2]
What a way to start the season.

The best the Irish have looked
in some time.

[BIRD CAWS]

[JACK] I came to realize
relatively quickly,

Manti was perfect student-athlete
for the community.

He was a person of faith,

and everybody on campus felt
like they knew Manti.

Suck at practice.

Manti was the kind of player
that like, as a parent,

you really wanted your kid to be.

My dad always told me,

"Don't necessarily be a man of success
but be a man of worth."

And so, I constantly strive
to be a good person.

He had a charm about him.
He had a confidence about him.

He already, at that young age,
was really an incredible leader.

This kid is the full package.

He was remarkable
and really stood out in that way.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Girls and Justin Bieber, man.
Must be good to be Justin Bieber.

You felt like he was engaging with you.

[LAUGHS] I knew you was gonna go that one.

Both the institution and Manti
are very much associated with values.

That combined with his ability...

[ANNOUNCER] Te'o up over the top.

...elevated him more quickly than normally.

[MANTI] It's all about serving.

It's all about serving others and being
of service to people in need of help.

- [REPORTER] Do you have a favorite player?
- Um, Manti Te'o, of course.

Manti Te'o, I would say.

I mean, everybody loves Manti.
He's awesome.

He has tremendous talent on... on the field
but seems like a better person in general.

I think Notre Dame fans,
and certainly the coaching staff,

have got to be ecstatic
about what is being built

on the defensive side.

[ANNOUNCER] Hit by Manti Te'o.

Notre Dame football is a huge brand.

I mean, there's movies made about it.

And for Manti, he kind of had
this persona already built in.

He was this warrior.

He had tattoos,
and he had kinda this Hawaiian persona.

You see the flags.
You see the Hawaii flag.

My parents always told me,
"Never forget who you are."

I always...
Those are my reminders of those things.

They really thought
they had a special player in this kid,

and really the next step was
that he was gonna be a huge star.

[CROWD CHEERING]

[JACK] College football is big business.
It has large television contracts.

It is a very major enterprise.

[ANNOUNCER]
Shotgun. Robinson throws a screen...

[MANTI] I had a good freshman year.

That's where the kinda momentum
started to build.

- [REPORTER] You know him?
- Nope.

- [REPORTER] Have you seen him?
- Yeah.

- [REPORTER] Have you talked to him?
- No.

- [REPORTER] Why?
- Because he's scary.

[REPORTER] Why?

Because he's really good at football,
so that's intimidating.

[JACK] He understood the fame,

and... and he was happy to be successful
and represent Notre Dame,

but I know from my conversations with him,

he missed the ability to be a student
just like any other student.

How you doing, huh? Good, T-man.

Can't believe I'm doing this right now.

- Already got the camera on you?
- Hi. You already did this one.

- All right.
- Do you remember it?

[WOMAN] How are you doing?

[MANTI] After the first encounter
with Lennay,

once every blue moon, she would hit me up,

say "What's up," but it wasn't really
anything that led to anything else.

Hey, what's up, everyone?
Um, this is Ronaiah.

I'm truly blessed and excited
to share new music with you.

It's been a while, but, um, I'm back,

and, um, I have some covers,
but this is an original.

Um... in fact, it's a snippet
of a song entitled, "Saved Again."

And I pray that you're blessed
and that you enjoy.

That whole time, it was
a ongoing, repetitive, redundant series

of these guys get to know
this amazing Lennay.

Things are going great.

And then here's time to meet up,
and I would end things.

[MELODY PLAYING ON KEYBOARD]

And I remember I felt really numb.

I just needed someone to talk to.

And the person that I reached out to

was Manti.

♪ I could throw away everything ♪

♪ And still you never let go of me... ♪

- [WHISTLE BLOWS]
- [COACH] Go!

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

My junior year,
I got a text, um, from Lennay

saying that, um,
her dad wasn't doing well,

and I... I felt for her.

And so the frequency
of the conversations increased.

I'd check up on her, you know,
just try to be a good friend.

[NAYA] He was super supportive,

and as these layers started
to peel back from him,

I started to see a different side of him,
where I was just like...

Like, "You're... you're a good person."

[MANTI] Something about me is,
whenever somebody needed help,

I just go in and help.

I felt like I was helping her,
and that made me feel good as a person.

I really fed off of that.

We would talk often.
She'd talk about her family, her faith.

And through those conversations,
I started getting to know who Lennay is.

And what she stands for,
what her values are,

and I'm like, "I like that."

[ROBBY] She was Samoan,
she loved the church,

and kinda all these traits
that were very important to Manti,

and I was like, "Oh nice", you know.
"Keep it going."

He'd talk about where he grew up,
and I'd talk about where I grew up.

And both of the places where we grew up

were, like, heavy with Polynesian
and "Samoan" communities.

[MANTI] Whenever you come across somebody
that is the same culture as you,

everything kind of, like, just... matches.

For him, the fact that he had this girl
who could really relate

and kinda empathize and sympathize, like,
with what he was going through

and the pressures he was facing,
that's what drew him to "Lennay."

[MANTI] You know,
in South Bend, you don't find that,

and so it was an escape for me.

We talked through
text messages, phone calls.

That was mainly the form of communication.

[ROBBY] Manti and I playing video games
in his dorm,

and she'd be on the phone talking.

For me, it was very normal

to have a long-distance relationship
because, at that time,

I had a girlfriend that was long-distance.

I would see her maybe twice a year.

As funny as it is,
Lennay had a beautiful voice.

[LENNAY] Hi, hon, just letting you know
I'm on my way to church. Okay.

Um, have a blessed day.
[BLOWS A KISS] Bye.

Manti had a certain expectation
for the relationships that he kept.

They had to keep... stay out of his way
when he had to do football.

That's true.

They had to kinda understand

that I won't be able
to spend time with you,

'cause I'm gonna be doing football.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[NAYA] Sometimes by the time we'd be able
to communicate, he would just be spent,

and I would respect that,
and we'd pray and then go to bed.

I think he just liked having
that kind of relationship

where it's just, like,
they could just totally be open.

I mean, what's not to like in somebody
that you have those similarities with?

You're like, "Oh, man, like,
we're the same person."

[NAYA] I started to realize
it was getting heavier.

All of the conversations that we did have,

those conversations were more
for conversations like

you would have with somebody
who you see longevity with.

But he wanted to meet face-to-face.

I remember I was like, "Let me see you."

I've seen the show Catfish
a couple of times,

and a lot of their reasons
for not being able to FaceTime,

I've probably used all those reasons.

I'd be like, "I can't see you."
She's all, "I can see you."

I'd say, "Why I can't see you, though?"

"I don't know.
Maybe your connection's bad."

I'm like, "Oh, okay. Maybe."

"Yeah, my phone's cracked,"
or, "I don't know what's going on,"

or, "I can see you. Can you see me?"

[PHONE RINGING]

When these guys would wanna meet up,

I would kind of be like, "Dang."
It was kind of the symbol of the end.

With every individual
that Lennay was involved with,

I kinda always had that control over it
where I was just like,

"Okay, time to go."

But that was what had me
afraid with Manti.

I knew what needed to be done,
but at the same time, I could never say,

"Hey, so this is it," you know.

"This is who I am."

Um, "This is who you've been talking to."

I could never come around to, like,

saying those words.

[MANTI] I wanted to meet,

and so there were those talks
about me going out there.

I couldn't buy more time,
but I also couldn't end it.

I was stuck.

[MANTI] I remember I was out
with some friends, and I got a text.

Lennay was in a car accident.

She got hit by a drunk driver,
and the car went off the highway.

She's on life support.
She's not doing good.

The family's...
They're all going to the hospital now.

That was one of the moments where I felt,

um, you know,
here was the right thing to do,

and then there was what I chose to do.

I remember texting, um,

as like "her brother."

The brother calls me
from... um, the hospital.

He says, "Hey, she's in the room."

"I can take you in there
if you wanna say stuff to her."

[MACHINE BEEPING]

The brother said, "Okay, here you go."

Put me down, and all I could hear
was breathing... through a mask.

Just hear...

[IMITATES MASKED BREATHING]

...the whole time.

As I just talked, I'd say, "Hey, it's me.
I dunno if you can hear me but I'm here."

[MACHINE BEEPING]

And all of a sudden,
the breathing starts to change pace.

And then the brother came,
grabbed the phone, and he told me that

the... the nurse said,

"Whoever's on the phone, um,

that's the most response
that she... that she's gotten."

I said, "Okay, all right,
I'll do that every day."

So every day from that point on,

I felt like I'm the one making
a difference here.

And so that's how it went.

[MACHINE BEEPING]

I can't remember when it was specifically,
but she was still in the hospital,

and I was told
that she was diagnosed with leukemia.

Cancer is a big thing to me,

um, because both of my grandfathers
passed away from cancer.

And all I could think about
from that point was,

"I got somebody on life support
that I gotta help."

And so, it was...

It was so often.
It was almost, like, every day.

This carries on for the next month.

I was at home in Hawaii,

and just like normal,
I was on the phone hearing the breathing,

and then... I heard her say my name.

Just faintly.

And I remember, like, "Hello?"

And then I heard her say my name again,
just a little more clearly.

And then she said my name again,
and the breathing stops.

[WHISPERS] "Manti."

[DEEPLY INHALES, EXHALES]

[DEEPLY INHALES, EXHALES]

[WHISPERS] "Manti."

She's like, "It's me."

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

I remember just crying, man.

Yeah.

Like, you had that effect on somebody,

to bring 'em back, right?

And my mom came outside, and she saw me,

and I told her what happened.
We were happy, man. We was happy.

Man...

that brings back so many emotions, man.

Jeez. [CLEARS THROAT]

[DEEPLY INHALES, SIGHS]

[OTTILIA] I first heard
that he was talking to Lennay

his junior year.

He's been talking
to this girl in California, um,

and she got into an accident.

So, that's how I first heard of her,
and right now she's in the hospital.

We knew that it had to have been
a... a long-distance phone relationship

because Manti was very busy at Notre Dame.

I was aware that if my dad knew

that I felt for a girl
that I hadn't met yet,

that it would be a little weird for him,
right?

I was concerned about this relationship
being long-distance, um,

because I... I'm old-school.

But he asked me it.
He's like, "Did you meet this girl?"

And I told him I did.

I think he had told me he did see her,
but then he didn't see her.

And I was thinking, you know, "This kid."

I'm like, "If it's going to be
cloak-and-dagger kind of relationship,

then I don't want to know
any of the details," kinda thing.

For me,
I... I just felt that this person was

just, like,
the most unlucky human of all time,

and I was real skeptical about her.

I... I looked up the Orange County accident.

And I saw no record.

We had family members
that also were familiar with Lennay.

When he took it more serious with her,
I just let him do his thing,

and I never really got in between him
or any of his relationships.

Because this was a Polynesian family
that he was in a relationship with,

certain red flags, certain... certain, um,

caution tape gets removed for us.

[INTERVIEWER]
Did you ever have any moments of doubt?

Did you think that this might be
a catfishing situation?

Yeah. Yeah. And it's hard...

So... so, let's talk about this, right?
[SHARPLY INHALES]

[SPLUTTERS] What's the main thing is,
one, that wasn't the culture back then.

In 2009, there was...
there was no such thing.

Nobody knew anything about catfishing.

[INQUISITIVE MUSIC PLAYING]

Nobody I know would know
what "catfish" was at that time.

It was uncommon for us to... to meet
anybody outside of our little town.

So when you see a girl from California
wanting to talk to you,

you know, it gets a little exciting,
I guess you could say.

[MANTI]
This is the fact that I held on to,

was that I verified through people I knew.

[MUSIC SLOWLY BUILDS]

This guy was one
of Lennay's prior relationships.

Back then it was like,

"Hey, bro, you know so-and-so?"
"Yeah, I know so-and-so." "Cool."

I steered away from, you know,
bringing any of my theories up to Manti

just because he cared
about this person so much.

My job as his best friend is
to protect him.

I knew it was more serious.

There was no turning back now.

[MUSIC FADES]

[MANTI] After my junior year,

I had the opportunity
to leave school early

and to enter into the NFL Draft.

That's millions of dollars.

[ALEX] There were a lot of expectations
on Manti in that family.

They could've
greatly benefited financially

from him going and playing in the NFL.

[APPLAUDING, CHEERING]

Time now to look at our final finalists
of the evening.

You know,
being the oldest of seven children,

you could say that Manti Te'o
had no choice but to be a leader.

[MANTI] That decision to go
to the NFL or stay didn't just affect me.

It affected the people I love the most.

My parents, they were like,
"Listen, this is an opportunity. Take it."

But I didn't know what to do.

[NAYA] He had called me,
and I remember telling him,

"You have to see the bigger vision."

"You need to focus.
You need to get your mind right,

because everything you wanna do
for your family,

you will not get there partying."

"You will not get there,
you know, chilling out with whoever."

"You have to start holding yourself
to this standard and be prepared."

[MANTI]
And that made my focus even sharper.

Because I knew that if I just did my job,

um, and I... I lived a pure life,

that the Lord would help me out.

I wonder which one of you

are gonna be playing
pro football next year.

Manti?

Um, you know,
fortunately, for me, my parents are here,

so we really sat down last night
and talked about it,

and, uh, I feel
I'm not done at Notre Dame.

- So, I'll be coming back my senior year.
- [EMCEE] Wow.

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING, CHEERING]

Now I know that announcement right there

has Irish fans all across the country
jumping for joy...

[MANTI]
I understood the risks of doing that.

If I were to get injured,
you won't get picked at all.

And so I knew, when I decided to stay,

that... I really need
to double down in everything.

[UP-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS]

- [GRUNTING]
- [MAN] Push!

As he started to take that commitment
more serious, he was doing well.

[ANNOUNCER] And a loss. Here's Miller.

Intercepted.

Picked off in the secondary easily
by Manti Te'o.

Good things started to happen.

I think that he was starting to see
the difference, um, in himself

and his impact
that he was having on his team.

I felt like I was as spiritually strong
as I've ever been because I was focused.

[ANNOUNCER] Manti Te'o
back for his senior season.

The unquestioned leader.

[NAYA] As the relationship got stronger
and as commitment grew stronger,

so did the success
that, you know, came along with him.

In a weird way, I started
to, like, be interested in football again.

[ANNOUNCER] Manti Te'o. Number five.

[NAYA] I know he had coaches,
but I would literally say,

"Here's some things to look out for.
Um, here are some tendencies."

In that game,
exactly what I was pointing out happened,

where we ended up winning
because of a defensive effort.

[ANNOUNCER] ...short of the first down.

Manti Te'o was on the case.

[CROWD CHEERING]

I remember he did talk
about having trust issues

and just, you know, not necessarily, um...
just talking to just anyone.

And I think that because we were able
to have those types of conversations,

Lennay became a rock for him.

I became more and more
emotionally invested into Manti.

There were attempts
for me to go out there.

But she would always tell me,

"I don't want you to see me like this.
I want to heal up first."

That's when everything
kinda started to change.

[ANNOUNCER] Manti Te'o,

who is projected to be
a first-round NFL Draft pick...

I was happy,
and I was, like, super proud of him,

but at the same time,
things started to get rocky.

- [YELLS]
- [CROWD APPLAUDS, CHEERS]

[MANTI] At this time,

me and my relationship with Lennay
is... is up and down.

During that time, where fame was climbing,

I remember communication
just started to get a little more distant.

And I was just like, you know,
"What's going on?"

He was the golden child of Notre Dame.

[CROWD CHEERING]

[MAN] ♪ ...in the air sometimes
Saying ayo! ♪

[CROWD CHANTS] Manti Te'o!

When you have
a little entourage around you,

that's just flaming your ego.

Everybody was telling me
what I wanted to hear.

Everybody was telling me,
like, "You're the man."

It was getting to the point where, um...
I was losing control.

[LENNAY CRYING]
I don't know who answered your phone.

And I don't care.
You made it clear what you want.

[UP-TEMPO MUSIC FADES, STOPS]

[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]

I got a call at 6:00 a.m. that morning
telling me my grandmother passed away.

It was a real somber day for me,
you know, just kind of,

um...

really reflecting about,
you know, my life.

I was hurting. I was being very short
with... with everybody, Lennay included,

um... and wasn't really talking to anybody.

[NAYA] I remember arguing with him
and saying, "What's going on?"

The way he was responding
was so, like, short-answered,

where I felt like he was hiding something.

And, um...

I'm telling you, I am not proud.

I am not proud, and I am not happy, uh...

[SIGHS]

...with the decisions I made in that time.

[MANTI]
I get back to the football facility,

and we're getting ready for practice,

and I get a call from Lennay's brother.

I remember calling him
as like a "brother" figure.

He's just crying hysterically,

and... I'm... I'm like,
"Yo, what... what's going on?"

Like, "What... what's going on?
What's happening?"

And all I could remember...
All he said was, "She's gone."

I just found out that I lost
my grandmother that morning.

And then I just found out
that Lennay passed.

I don't know what the heck inside of me
thought that he was gonna handle it well

or like he was gonna be able
to just swallow that

and just carry on
with his normal, you know, routine.

But, um... yeah, he didn't handle it well.

Yeah, I just broke.

Hearing him, like, literally slam things
and scream and cry, it, uh...

It... it broke me.

It hurt me in ways
that I... I've never felt that type of pain.

That morning we get a call
from Lennay's brother

saying that Lennay had passed.

I called as Lennay's brother.

I felt like the worst person
in the entire world.

But I'm telling you, in that time frame
and where my mind was,

I didn't want to just end it with Manti.

I wanted to end it with Lennay.

I shared my experiences, my pain,

in losing my mom and my dad.

I opened up to them about cancer.

We spent hours on the phone,
just trying to console them,

you know, because we really felt
they had lost a sister, a daughter,

whatever it was,

while trying to deal with our own...

with our own, um, tragedy
in our own family.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]

[MANTI] I walked out of the locker room.

And I remember

everything kinda came crashing down
at that time.

[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]

Around the time
of this trauma in Manti's life,

we had a series of really important games.

[MANTI] I remember,
before the Michigan State game,

everything was kinda up in the air.

And I got a call from Lennay's sister.

She says, "I want you to know
that Lennay wrote you letters

ahead of time before every game
for you this year."

I read the letter,

and that is when I made the decision,

I said, "Listen... I'mma make
something good out of this."

"This could either be all about me,

or this could be about being
an inspiration to everybody else."

[ANNOUNCER]
We check in down below with Heather Cox.

[HEATHER] On Tuesday morning,
Manti's grandma passed away.

And then just a few short hours later,

Te'o's girlfriend lost
her lengthy battle with leukemia.

Te'o didn't give any thought
to missing tonight's game.

In fact, Coach Kelly wanted him
to skip Tuesday's practice.

Manti said no.

I was so clear that game,
like my mind was clear.

The game moved slow.

I just played
for a bigger purpose than me.

[ANNOUNCER] They come with Bell,

and he is stuffed
in the backfield by Manti Te'o.

[ALEX] You've got this incredible athlete

who is now playing through
significant tragedy in his life,

and not only is he playing through it,
he's playing well through it.

[ANNOUNCER] Manti Te'o,

the defensive player of this game
with a heavy heart here tonight.

Big win for Notre Dame.

[ALEX] So they beat Michigan State,
and I remember, at the end of the game,

Heather Cox interviews him on the field,
and she asks him about the week that was.

How would you describe your emotions
on the field tonight?

I mean, they were with me, you know?
I couldn't do it without them.

I couldn't do it
without the support of my family

and my girlfriend's family, and, uh...

I miss 'em. I miss 'em. But I know
that I'll see 'em again one day.

Shortly after, they do
an extensive sit-down interview with him.

I... cried. I yelled.

You take, you know, the love of my life.

Last thing she said to me was,
"I love you."

And from there it kinda just took off.

And it became, again,
this incredible college football story.

Manti Te'o, the journey he's taken
has been incredible.

He actually said that the last words
that she said to him on the phone were,

"I love you."

Manti, you have made many of us all proud,
especially those of us from Hawaii.

And to you and your teammates,
we say, "Go Fighting Irish."

[ANNOUNCER]
Robinson sets, delivers. Intercepted!

[CROWD CHEERING]

Manti Te'o!

Taken out of bounds
inside the Michigan 20-yard line.

Another big play
by the Notre Dame defense.

The atmosphere surrounding
that period of time

absolutely felt unique from anything else
I had been around or experienced.

[PA ANNOUNCER]
Notre Dame, he is your keiki kāne,

number five,

Manti Te'o!

Manti was the biggest story in sports.

2012 could be rightly remembered
as the year of Manti.

[COMMENTATOR]
There will never be another player

who makes a bigger impact on Notre Dame

than Manti Te'o.

He's on TV shows
and on the cover of magazines.

He's a no-brainer first-round Draft pick.

It was like Rudy all over again.
America loved it.

Everybody bought into the story.
We wanted it to happen.

Yes! Yeah! Yeah!

I didn't expect for it
to, like, blow up so quickly.

I already knew, like,
"Oh no, like, this can't be good."

You told me,
at the beginning of this season,

that how the crowd responded to you,

if you saw tears in people's eyes,

then you would know
that you had been a success.

He really wanted to be something
that transcended college football.

And it was the kind of story
that you root for.

[CHEERING]

We've been incredibly privileged
at the University of Notre Dame

to have a student-athlete

who so perfectly captures
the values of the institution.

[BRIAN] He had a tremendous senior year.

For me, as a parent, I was really proud.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

For Fighting Irish fans,
this is the season

they have been dreaming about for years.

[TRIUMPHANT MUSIC PLAYS]

[ANNOUNCER] Te'o grabbed it.
Te'o may have gotten an interception.

It's being signaled yes.

Manti Te'o is not only trying to lead
Notre Dame to a national championship,

he's a Heisman Trophy candidate.

[COMMENTATOR]
Manti Te'o is playing himself

into consideration for the Heisman Trophy.

At Notre Dame, success is measured
in national championships

and Heisman Trophy winners.

We're at the home of the Heisman Trophy,

the most prestigious prize
in all of college sports.

Manti played an enormous role

in our attempt to succeed
at the highest levels nationally.

[COMMENTATOR]
And Manti Te'o keeps his name

in the conversation
for the Heisman Trophy.

Manti Te'o, in my opinion,
should win the Heisman Trophy.

[NAYA] I do remember there was
a particular interview that he did,

and he shared about one thing

that Lennay would always remind me
was to always just be humble.

And with... with all the interviews,
with... with all the accolades,

she just said, "Babe, that's great.
Be humble. And you know who to thank."

In a weird, crazy way,

it kinda brought
a little bit of peace to me,

just to know that the message,
you know, it got across.

[ANNOUNCER] Taylor...

He's stopped.

Notre Dame wins!

And the Fighting Irish have
an undefeated regular season.

[MANTI] We ended the year 12 and 0.

Punched our ticket
to the national championship.

It's good to have the Irish back.

The Fighting Irish will play
for the national championship.

A resurgent and unbeaten Notre Dame

looking for its first national title
in a quarter-century.

It couldn't be a better senior season.

[ALL CHANT] We're going to the 'ship, oh!
We're going to the 'ship, oh!

We're going to the 'ship, oh!
We're going to the 'ship, oh!

[NAYA] As crazy as it sounds,
I, too, was mourning Lennay.

All these years
of that being the other me,

I'd become so wrapped up
in this whole other life.

I missed the relationship.

I missed the conversations.

I missed, um, you know, sh**ting that text
and getting something back.

Ultimately, a huge part of me
just didn't want to let go.

[REPORTER]
What does this night mean to you?

It means everything.
It means everything to me,

and it means everything
to my... my football family

and to my family back at home.

The last game of the season
was against USC in... in LA.

I would sporadically check in
on the family, see how they're doing.

The world of Lennay had consisted
of Lennay,

her sister, U'lli,

her brother, her mom,

Ronaiah.

I was told that Ronaiah
was Lennay's cousin.

And Lennay had this little niece.

My baby sister was, like, little,

and prior to ending everything,

there were times where she'd be playing
on my phone, and he would call.

I had to explain to him,
"Oh, yeah, by the way, that's Puka."

I would talk to the niece sometimes
and see how... how she was doing.

[PUKA] Hi, Uncle Manti, it's me, Puka.

I miss you and... Love you. Bye.

It was wild.
It was reckless. It was crazy.

[MANTI] I was talking
to one of the family members and...

I love 'em. I love 'em.

...they wanted to meet me after the game.

- That's all I can say.
- [REPORTER] Manti...

He actually wanted to see,
um, my baby sister,

so a part of me felt like, uh,
"This is super risky."

And there was this part of me
that just couldn't let go.

Ronaiah shows up with the little girl.

Uh, from his understanding,
I... I had a relation to Lennay.

I had a connection.

But there was nowhere in his mind
that I was Lennay.

I asked, "Where's the rest of the family?"
They said, "They had to go somewhere."

"I just wanted to bring the little girl.
She wanted to see you."

My baby sister had this whole infatuation
with, like, Build-A-Bear.

She loves Build-A-Bear.

And so, we were at the mall,

and she actually got one
and took one for him.

And the little girl handed me
a stuffed bear, I believe it was.

Um, and she said it was Lennay's favorite,
and she wanted me to give this to you.

You know, I was always skeptical
of the intentions of, uh, Ronaiah

and, you know, some of the folks
within this story.

But I met the little girl,

and the little girl said
she missed Auntie Lennay.

Um, there's a clip of me
actually, you know, giving them a hug.

It was pretty crazy just to know
that I was standing before this person

who I had carried on this, um... you know,

online relationship for so long.

There was nothing creep-ish
where it was like,

"Finally, I get to hug you,
or finally, I get to embrace you."

Nah. It was nothing like that.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

After that, I knew in my heart
that it was not over.

[MANTI] After the USC game,
I got a call from Lennay's sister.

We were just catching up.

In the middle of that conversation,

the girl says, "Hey, it's me."

And I'm like, "Excuse me?"

She's like,
"Manti, listen to my voice. It's me."

I said, "Who's me?"

And she's like, "It's Lennay."

And I'm like, "Dude, come on, man."

"You can't play games like that."
It's like, "No, it's me, for real."

And I just hung up the phone.

And they called back.

And then they went on a whole spiel
about how they got into some trouble,

and she had to go in hiding, and I'm like,

"Okay, I don't believe anything you guys
are saying. If it's you, prove it."

And she says, "I can send you a picture."

I was like, "Okay.
Well, if you're gonna send me a picture,

this picture's gonna need a few things."
[SNIFFLES]

"One, it's gonna have to have
your initials somewhere."

"Two, it's gotta have the date,
and not only does it need the date,

it has to have this sign right here."

And everybody knows that from me.
Like, they always see me throw this up,

and it just means I'm a Laie boy.

And they sent me the picture.

Holding a piece of paper, in red ink,

the date and her throwing this up.

That's when everything went chaotic.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

[MUSIC FADES]