Face Two – Manti Te’o
It’s fitting that this piece is getting posted just after Notre Dame hosted Syracuse because the last time the Orange came to Notre Dame Stadium was on Manti Te’o’s official visit weekend.
It was late November 2008 and Notre Dame suffered an embarrassing loss to a Syracuse team that had already fired its head coach but was letting him play out the year.
The Notre Dame student section fired snowballs at the Notre Dame sideline that day, and Te’o’s visit seemingly went awful.
However, Notre Dame ended up in the Hawaii Bowl that year, which allowed for more time with Te’o, and the Irish staff landed his commitment on national signing day 2009.
Te’o instantly got on the field in 2009 and turned into a college football megastar before his time was up at Notre Dame.
He gained national stardom in 2012, helping lead an upstart Fighting Irish squad to a 12-0 regular season and a spot in the BCS National Championship, in which they fell in hard fashion to Alabama.
Te’o finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting that season, an incredible accomplishment for a defensive player.
Te’o was drafted in the second round by the Chargers and spent time there before signing with the New Orleans Saints. He is a member of the Chicago Bears practice squad.
When it comes to insane hype matching the on-field performance, Te’o accomplished that more than any other recent recruit at Notre Dame.