Manti Te’o responds to reaction to documentary

Hear from Manti himself about the reactions he’s received

It seems everyone and their mother has taken in the [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] recently released on Netflix documentary, “Untold: The Girlfriend that didn’t Exist.”  Now Te’o issued a statement of sorts regarding all of the positive feedback he’s received since the documentary went public.

Te’o took to his personal Instagram account to thank all of the well-wishers and those who offered apologies for things they may have said previously. Here is what Te’o said in full earlier this week.

“I just want to come on here real quick, just to give a heartfelt thank you to everybody that has come through and has shown so much love to me and my family, for your messages, for your comments,” Te’o said in the video. “I’m trying to go through all of them, and it’s been so amazing to me to hear the battles that we’re all facing, the challenges that we’re facing in our lives at this time, and how the documentary has given some of us hope, the extra push just to keep going.”

Te’o seems happy on social media these days as he’s married to a beautiful wife and has a gorgeous young daughter.

To quote Red about his friend Andy in Shawshank Redemption:  “Andy Dufresne (Manti Te’o in this case) – who crawled through a river of —- and came out clean on the other side!”

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Manti Te’o documentary: the world reacts

Have you watched? If so, what are your main takeaways?

You don’t have to be much of a college football fan whatsoever to recall the Manti Te’o catfishing story.  Us being a Notre Dame based website means we’re plenty aware of it and how incredible of a player Te’o was during his time at Notre Dame, but the story of his girlfriend dying and then ultimately not actually ever existing meant it went from a sports story to a national news story.

I don’t think anyone ever forgot about the craziness that was around that story and it never really went away but for almost 10 years now there hasn’t been anything new that we’ve learned about it.  At least until now.

Netflix recently released “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist,” a two part documentary on the entire story of Te’o, Lennay Kekua, and Naya Tuiasosopo and the catfishing scheme that took place.

The Twitter world reacted to the documentary and we’ll get to that in just a second but I wanted to next share just a couple of my initial takeaways.

NEXT: My initial thoughts after watching the documentary

Manti Te’o signs with Chicago Bears

After getting a workout with them last week, Manti Te’o has inked a deal to join the Chicago Bears. Details here.

One of the most decorated players in the long history of Notre Dame football has inked a new deal with the Chicago Bears on Tuesday as Manti Te’o signed with their practice squad.

The former Notre Dame standout and Heisman Trophy runner-up helped lead the Fighting Irish to a BCS Championship Game appearance in 2012 while racking up countless other awards that season.

Te’o went on to be drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers and played four seasons there before spending parts of the last three seasons with the New Orleans Saints.

Te’o has been credited with 307 tackles in his NFL career with a career high 83 coming in 2015.  He has also pulled down a pair of interceptions at the professional level.

Te’o joins Alex Bars, Cole Kmet and Sam Mustipher as former Notre Dame players currently on the Bears roster.

Notre Dame legend gets tryout with Chicago Bears

One of the best to ever wear blue and gold at Notre Dame was given a tryout with the Chicago Bears this week.

Former Heisman Trophy runner-up and Butkus Award Winner at Notre Dame, Manti Te’o has an NFL tryout this week with the team that has perhaps the greatest lineage of any at interior linebacker position.

That is the Chicago Bears who have called Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher their own, just to name a few.

Te’o last played in the NFL for the Saints in 2019, playing 34 snaps over three games.  He also started for New Orleans in 2017 as he recorded 62 tackles that season.

The Bears are also looking at former Washington State product Deone Buchanon and Justin Phillips of Oklahoma State.

Earlier this week the Bears elevated former Notre Dame offensive lineman Sam Mustipher to the active roster, creating an opening on their practice squad.

Te’o entered Notre Dame in 2009 as one of the biggest recruits in semi-recent memory and helped the Irish to a BCS National Championship Game appearance in 2012.

No word yet on if any of the three of Te’o, Buchanon or Phillips are going to end up getting a deal.