Manti Te'o Girlfriend Doesn't Exist, Story Is a Hoax

Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o often talked about the girlfriend he has lost to leukemia, a woman who inspired him to do better.

It turns out the whole story is a hoax. His alleged relationship with her had only developed online. The name she gave him was Lennay Kekua, and she introduced herself as a former Stanford student, in '09.

On September 12, he was told she had died. It was the same day that he was informed about his 72-year old grandmother's death.

"That has to be the hardest thing that I've had to do so far; to be able to operate, and to be able to try to continue with my daily routine, but knowing that I just lost two women that I truly loved," Te'o stated during a news conference at the time.

According to Deadspin, who did a little digging, there is no death certificate issued in that name. Also, no record of her birth exists.

Te'o is now saying he was duped. The "the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke," he describes himself.

"We know it's a hoax… The only question out there is exactly what Manti knew about it," editor Timothy Burke asked in an interview, according to USA Today. Tell me what you think, by writing a comment in the section below.