Te'o told the press and those close to him that he had met his girlfriend in person

Jan 21, 2013 09:53 GMT  ·  By

Manti Te'o has finally come clean about telling people he had met his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, in person, before she died.

As I mentioned on Saturday, he denies any involvement in the girlfriend hoax, however, insisting that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo set up the whole thing, than called him from the number he associated with Lennay, to come clean.

An audio of his interview with ESPN is available, and it is posted above. Te'o admits to being embarrassed about talking to a girlfriend he had only met online, and making up the rest of the details about their relationship.

“I knew that -- I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet, and that alone people find out that this girl who died I was so invested in, and I didn't meet her as well.

“So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away so people wouldn't think I was some crazy dude,” he says.