Ex-NFL player: I met Te'o's girlfriend
Former Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Maui'a says he met the girlfriend of Notre Dame's Manti Te'o, a woman the university and Te'o now say doesn't exist.
Maui'a told ESPN that he met Lennay Kekua in 2011 while he and some teammates were on a charity mission to American Samoa.
Maui'a told the network that this was before the woman met Te'o and that he and Kekua became ''good friends.''
Maui'a was through talking about the issue on Thursday, saying in a tweet ''if ur calling me for a story, plz don't. I have better things to do... I gotta make breakfast.''
Maui'a was released by the Cardinals on Oct. 30, the last of his five stints with the team. Maui'a played at Hawaii and was drafted in the sixth round by Miami. He played briefly with the Dolphins and with Cincinnati before coming to Arizona.
Maui'a told ESPN that Kekua ''was tall, volleyball-type of physique. She was athletic, tall, beautiful. Long hair. Polynesian. She looked like a model.''
He said he got to know her family.
''When she was going through the loss of her father, I was - I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off,'' Maui'a said. ''That was just from meeting her in Samoa.''
His detailed description flies in the face of the acknowledgment by Notre Dame and Te'o that the woman was fictional.
By Thursday, Maui'a was only offering cryptic phrases on Twitter.
In response to someone offering support, he wrote, ''Thanks bro,, this entire thing is crazy.''
-
2024 NFL Mock Draft: Chargers, Giants land star wideouts after QBs go 1-4
2024 NFL Draft odds: Jets now favored to draft Georgia TE Brock Bowers
Jayden Daniels moves up, Bo Nix goes 12th in Colin Cowherd's NFL mock draft
-
2024 NFL Draft Schedule: Date, time, how to watch, TV channel
2024 NFL Schedule Release: Date, when does the season start?
2024 New NFL uniforms: Broncos, Lions latest teams to make jersey changes
-
2024 NFL Draft order: Every pick for all seven rounds
Roman Gabriel, former NC State and pro quarterback who was the AP NFL MVP in 1969, dies at 83
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott says he doesn't fear future, whether in Dallas or elsewhere
-
2024 NFL Mock Draft: Chargers, Giants land star wideouts after QBs go 1-4
2024 NFL Draft odds: Jets now favored to draft Georgia TE Brock Bowers
Jayden Daniels moves up, Bo Nix goes 12th in Colin Cowherd's NFL mock draft
-
2024 NFL Draft Schedule: Date, time, how to watch, TV channel
2024 NFL Schedule Release: Date, when does the season start?
2024 New NFL uniforms: Broncos, Lions latest teams to make jersey changes
-
2024 NFL Draft order: Every pick for all seven rounds
Roman Gabriel, former NC State and pro quarterback who was the AP NFL MVP in 1969, dies at 83
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott says he doesn't fear future, whether in Dallas or elsewhere