agree with this...... but I was more referring to opposing players, mid-game, using his open gayness as a target for trash/smack talking, to which I could definitely see teammates taking personally and rallying around, especially ones who might've previously been less comfortable having an openly gay teammate. I agree- the amount of rallying would correlate to the amount of fire subjected to.
Not sure I see that happening to be honest. In a world where random players and coaches are mic'd up all over the field, and where live cameras can actually pick up bits and pieces of what players say, nobody wants to be caught being homophobic on microphone. Not saying it wouldn't happen ever. Just saying that the first time it does happen, a player could easily get outed for it, and he'd take so much sh-t that nobody else would do it.
that's a fair point........... but it could result from harmless stuff like: "Hey #5, too bad the NFL wont let you wear heels out here!!"....... or ..... "Is that blackout under your eyes or is your eyeliner running?!"......... "You wearin' pink for Breast Cancer or because it's your favorite color?!!....... "Is that a cup in your pants or are you excited to tackle me?!"
This is only going to get worse. Several instances are already popping up of him talking about his "girlfriends" death AFTER he had informed the School that it was a hoax and him admitting to officials it was a hoax. I just think it just got out of hand and things just got more complicated and harder to keep it going.
That depends. Was this on his mind for the national title game? Is he going to be able to overcome getting mocked in the NFL?
Listen if this whole thing is as sinister, sick, twisted and a sign of mental illness as I see people asserting, the vetting process is going to find him out. This will only be the opening salvo in a whole string of interviews and stories from teammates and coaches describing bizarre and detrimental behavior from Te'o. You'll see coaches and/or teammates saying they always got a feeling Te'o was lying to them, that he's always trying to get the spotlight put on him and he's a "me" kind of player, doesn't work hard and makes excuses, that he seems impossibly dumb at times, or that he's just always saying or doing incredibly bizarre things that you can't figure out, he's a bad leader, etc. It'll all be there to be discovered. He didn't spend just a week or a month with these guys. He spent four years with them. But if everything you're hearing from his teammates and coaches runs contrary to this, teams will throw it out, precisely BECAUSE it's so bizarre and hard to figure out. If a guy gets caught with drugs, you know what that is and you know it could easily happen again. If a guy beats a woman, you know what that is and you know it could happen again. If a guy steals, you know what that is and you can easily imagine what other things could happen, what it means. But a guy gets caught embellishing the extent of his relationship with some chick he met online that dies? That going to happen again? Even when nobody around him suggests it's part of a pattern of disturbing behavior? That's why this is a virtual non-issue, because it's the vetting process which would've been done anyway that will turn up the evidence used to damn him or vindicate him. This story's too bizarre and too he-said/she-said for teams to afford the risk of it moving the needle.
How long do you imagine him getting mocked for this? Are you sure you're actually being realistic about that?
So..who else wants to be in the room when Ireland asks him about the faux dead GF? "So uhm, are you screwing an imaginary dead corpse"? They should sell tickets.
It is possible that in some circles, getting away with murder in a late-night confrontation has more street cred than being a gay man. I suppose there are circles where the opposite is true, but they probably involve less football locker rooms and more polo shirts. KIDDING! Seriously, if Manti is gay, I wish he'd come out openly. If he's not, I agree that it'll fase after the draft... like Cam Newton's stuff, Reggie Bush's, etc. That said, if Jeff Ireland cares whether a talented player's Mom is a ho, I'm sure someone will care if this is true. Bill Walsh didn't do psych profiles of players for nuthin'. In fact, trust was one of the highest values he espoused within an organization. Manti may have challenges there, as regards teammates trusting him. It's not 'nothing'.. but then again, it ain't the something people make it out to be either.
Certainly appeared to in that Bowl game. Imagine a guy who doesn;t have the mental makeup to get himself into this mess. That guy doesn;t have Notre Dame find out about it before a Bowl game and go into crisis-aversion mode. That guy has his mind n the game, not the ****-storm that's blowing his direction. I have a feeling that guy plays better. But I don;t have a stat that proves it.
what I wouldn't give to be fly on the wall when Ireland starts grilling him lol. Seriously, someone should start a thread "questions Ireland will ask manti." Given this forums membership, I think it would be a riot.
It's kind of speculation to me, because so much of what was going on in that game had a lot more to do with the offensive versus defensive lines. The biggest mistakes he made in the game were a missed open field tackle on Eddie Lacy which he spun out of, and give Lacy some credit for that it was a beautiful move and early in the game they were pointing out that Lacy hadn't been healthy and a while and now that he was he's been showing off some great agility that maybe wasn't there before. The other mistake was letting Michael Williams sneak behind him on a goal line touchdown and let's face it by that point Bama had already driven Notre Dame crazy with the ground game so I'm not surprised Te'o gambled against the run.
Rewatching the NGC and my breakdown of Te'o. 1st drive Te'o doesn't fill the right lane instead dances in place as a result is late getting over and ending up getting a poor angle which results in a Lacy TD. 2nd drive Te'o reads the screen perfectly just gets shrugged off by Lacy. 2nd drive 3rd and 1 Warmack just ABUSES Te'o. Te'o got swallowed up. Next play Te'o bites on the PA and gets burned for it. Not sure he needed to as ND loaded up on the line. 3rd drive Te'o is just biting on every PA. Nothing Te'o could do to stop that. He took on the blocker. 4th drive Te'o reads screens well it seems. 5th drive Te'o sitting in zone doesn't seem to attack the TE but waits until the ball is in his hands to go in for the tackle. 6th drive Te'o makes the right read takes on the blocker but isn't getting much help. 6th drive Oh lordy Te'o untouched gets Yeldon 5 yards in the backfield and misses the tackle. Yikes, that is on Te'o 100%. Next play flashes that speed to make the tackle on Yeldon. 1st Half Te'o had 3 missed tackles for sure. So far underwhelming, isn't playing like a top 10 pick. Te'o seems like he has good sideline to sideline speed, makes the right read on screens, struggled with PA in the 1st half. 7th drive Te'o making tackles on this drive. I don't know on that 4th and 1 he creates penetration for his teammates but no help. 8th drive Te'o doesn't attack the running lane which he is late to fill resulting in an arm tackle attempt. Te'o flashes that speed and pushes Yeldon out. Te'o gets in the backfield but path gets slightly altered which results in a missed opportunity. He bites on the PA a lot. So after that everything else was pretty standard nothing to fancy Bama did after that. I will say Te'o stock shouldn't be affected. I know my knee jerk reaction was an overreaction but still don't see Elite talent and shouldn't be a top 10 pick. I don't want Miami to draft him. He isn't going to put this defense on his back.
I would take him if he falls for us. I mean, Ray Lewis actually MURDERED someone and turned out to be a HoF. This kid is great.
The evaluation is the key. If you think he's Lewis or Willis then it makes sense to take him. If you don't have him in that class then you're wasting a top pick on a lower impact player.
Gotta work Mormon in there somehow... the Bull****ting Mormon?... naaa too upfront. Stormin Mormon? Doesn't really make sense, although given his quote about riding thru the storm there could be something there... eh **** it...
He could be this generations Ricky Williams, in the sense that he has a lot of talent but is socially awkward and in general a strange dude. But Ricky is very very intelligent, Te'o comes across as a bit of an R-tard if he did get conned. Which I doubt. The 30 for 30 special will be intresting.
Lewis and two friends got into a fight outside of a bar where the two guys they were fighting with ended up stabbed and dead, Lewis ducked his buddies into his limo, told them to keep quiet about all of it, and then dumped the suit he was wearing into a dumpster in the back of a fast food restaurant, then lied to the police. He was formally charged with murder, but the charge was knocked down in exchange for his agreeing to testify against his two buddies, who had arrest records. Yeah, that's just a a LITTLE BIT worse than lying about the extent of your relationship with a chick you met online that didn't turn out to be real.
Way different scenarios. I don't fault Lewis for not wanting to put his friends in jail when we don't know how the fight started and who was at fault.
