The heartbreaking narrative only further endeared Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o to college football fans.
Te'o had a dominant senior season and led the Fighting Irish to a perfect 12-0 record, all while playing through the pain of tragic losses to his grandmother and girlfriend.
As the story went, Te'o lost his grandmother and girlfriend within six hours of each other in the days prior to the Fighting Irish's 20-3 win over Michigan State on Sept. Sept. 15. Te'o turned in an inspirational performance with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Turns out, a portion of that story was a hoax,
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Te'o's grandmother did pass away in the fall, but there appears to be no record of Te'o's girlfriend, 22-year-old Lennay Kekua, according to Deadspin. Through elaborate reporting, including tracing images and following a maze of dead ends on Twitter, Deadspin exposed a series of inconsistencies in the entire narrative.
According to the Deadspin report:
Whether Te'o was compliant as the story furthered his Heisman Trophy campaign is the lingering question.
Both Te'o and Notre Dame responded to the report late Wednesday afternoon, calling Te'o the victim of the hoax, not a participant in it. According to the Deadspin report, a friend of Teo's said he was "80 percent" certain Te'o was in on it.
According to the university's official statement:
Te'o released a statement of his own Wednesday afternoon: