Te’o hoax answers may shake thunder from the sky
Jan 18, 2013, 6:32 PM | Updated: 6:32 pm
“Cheer cheer for old Notre Dame, wake up the echoes cheering her name.”
Is there anyone, anywhere who hasn’t heard that fight song? But today these echoes are whispering different names, exotic names like Lennay Kekua and Manti Te’o.
Of course, Manti Te’o is the year’s most-talked about football player. The linebacker on an undefeated No. 1 team. Heisman trophy finalist. Role model for virtually everyone who follows the college game. And now the center of one of the most mysterious, bizarre stories to come off any college campus in a long time.
What about the other name, Lennay Kekua? She was the love of his life. She inspired him to greatness on the football field, in spite of her being in Hawaii and he going to school in South Bend. Their romance touched the nation. Her sudden death caused us all to mourn and then to cheer, cheer for young Manti Te’o. We were deeply touched.
And then this week we were shocked to discover we had all been tricked. Lennay never existed. She was nothing more than an online voice. Who perpetuated this cruel hoax?
The answer just may “shake down the thunder from the sky.”
I’m Pat McMahon.
