TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - 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."
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Arizona Cardinals' Reagan Maui'a (45) stretches prior to an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010, in Glendale, Ariz. The Rams defeated the Cardinals 19-6. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
