T'eo tells ESPN he was not a part of the hoax:
"I wasn't faking it," ESPN quoted Te'o as saying during the 2½-hour interview. "I wasn't part of this. When they hear the facts they'll know. They'll know there is no way I could be a part of this."
Te'o said he first met Tuiasosopo in person after the Southern California game in November. Te'o told ESPN that Tuiasosopo told him he was the cousin of Lennay Kekua, the woman who Te'o believed he had fallen for through Internet chats and long phone conversations.
"Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," Te'o told ESPN. "I don't know. According to Ronaiah, Ronaiah's one."
Te'o said he never met Kekua face-to-face and when he tried to speak with her via Skype and video phone calls, the picture was blocked.
He also told ESPN that he lied to his father about having met Kekua. To cover that up, he apparently lied to everyone else.
After he was told Kekua had died of leukemia in early September, Te'o said he misled the public about the nature of the "relationship" because he was uncomfortable saying he had never met her in person.
"That goes back to what I did with my dad. I knew that. I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet," he said. "So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away."
Te'o told Schaap that he wasn't entirely sure he was the victim of a hoax until earlier this week, just two days ago, when Tuiasosopo apologized to him via Twitter. As Notre Dame officials said earlier, he did get a call from the person posing as Kekua on Dec. 6 — but it was to tell him she had not died at all, and to carry on their courtship.
Te'o was confused. He finally confided in his parents over Christmas break in his home state of Hawaii and told Notre Dame coaches what was going on Dec. 26.
"My relationship with Lennay wasn't a four-year relationship," Te'o said. "There were blocks and times and periods in which we would talk and then it would end," but he offered her a "shoulder to cry on" when she told him her father had died.
Te'o said he was told Kekua was in a coma following an April 28 car accident, but she awoke the following month. He never made an attempt to visit her in the hospital.
"It never really crossed my mind. I don't know. I was in school," he told Schaap.
Te'o told Schaap the relationship with Kekua dated to his freshman year at Notre Dame, the 2009-10 season, and they met via Facebook.
The nation's best defender also said the hoax affected his play in the BCS national championship, a 42-14 loss to Alabama in which he performed poorly.
This is getting more and more bizarre. So is he lying now to protect himself? He apparently lied before to make his relationship with the girl seem way more than he claims it was. Also, how does a fake relationship with two adults go on several years? If it was a prank, I would think those kind of things would come out of the woodwork pretty quick...
Either way, T'eo was stupid for believing this for as long as he did and then lying to people to make it seem more real than it ever was.
"I wasn't faking it," ESPN quoted Te'o as saying during the 2½-hour interview. "I wasn't part of this. When they hear the facts they'll know. They'll know there is no way I could be a part of this."
Te'o said he first met Tuiasosopo in person after the Southern California game in November. Te'o told ESPN that Tuiasosopo told him he was the cousin of Lennay Kekua, the woman who Te'o believed he had fallen for through Internet chats and long phone conversations.
"Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," Te'o told ESPN. "I don't know. According to Ronaiah, Ronaiah's one."
Te'o said he never met Kekua face-to-face and when he tried to speak with her via Skype and video phone calls, the picture was blocked.
He also told ESPN that he lied to his father about having met Kekua. To cover that up, he apparently lied to everyone else.
After he was told Kekua had died of leukemia in early September, Te'o said he misled the public about the nature of the "relationship" because he was uncomfortable saying he had never met her in person.
"That goes back to what I did with my dad. I knew that. I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet," he said. "So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away."
Te'o told Schaap that he wasn't entirely sure he was the victim of a hoax until earlier this week, just two days ago, when Tuiasosopo apologized to him via Twitter. As Notre Dame officials said earlier, he did get a call from the person posing as Kekua on Dec. 6 — but it was to tell him she had not died at all, and to carry on their courtship.
Te'o was confused. He finally confided in his parents over Christmas break in his home state of Hawaii and told Notre Dame coaches what was going on Dec. 26.
"My relationship with Lennay wasn't a four-year relationship," Te'o said. "There were blocks and times and periods in which we would talk and then it would end," but he offered her a "shoulder to cry on" when she told him her father had died.
Te'o said he was told Kekua was in a coma following an April 28 car accident, but she awoke the following month. He never made an attempt to visit her in the hospital.
"It never really crossed my mind. I don't know. I was in school," he told Schaap.
Te'o told Schaap the relationship with Kekua dated to his freshman year at Notre Dame, the 2009-10 season, and they met via Facebook.
The nation's best defender also said the hoax affected his play in the BCS national championship, a 42-14 loss to Alabama in which he performed poorly.
This is getting more and more bizarre. So is he lying now to protect himself? He apparently lied before to make his relationship with the girl seem way more than he claims it was. Also, how does a fake relationship with two adults go on several years? If it was a prank, I would think those kind of things would come out of the woodwork pretty quick...
Either way, T'eo was stupid for believing this for as long as he did and then lying to people to make it seem more real than it ever was.