AP PhotoIndianapolis, In. - Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te'o knew the questions were
coming, not only from the hundreds of reporters that circled him in his press
conference Saturday, but also from the NFL coaches and executives he's hoping to
impress with his performance here in Indianapolis.
As for what exactly happened with the hoax that
captivated the entire country, when it was discovered the girlfriend the Heisman
finalist led everyone to believe was deceased, was actually a guy he had never
me "Quite a few teams asked me about it and there's some that go certain
lengths. Some just ask me, 'Just give me a
brief overview of how it was and just tell me the facts,' they want to hear it from me."
Te'o didn't go
into specifics of the hoax, saying he was just caring for someone he thought was
in trouble like he was always taught to do. He did, however, give the media a glimpse of what the ordeal was like for him. He called it overwhelming and embarrassing
and wishes he would've done a lot of things differently but he says the most
difficult time came when he picked up the phone and his sister was on the other
end "I
think the toughest moment, to be honest with you, was the phone call that I got
from my sister and she told me that they had to sneak my own family in their
home cause there were people parked out in the yard and stuff like that. That had to be the hardest part."
As for his
draft status surrounding the event Te'o has no idea how it will impact
him, all he can do now is express to
teams that he is a player worthy of taking a chance on "They want to be able to trust their
player and you don't want to invest in somebody who you can't trust."
As to where
Te'o could potentially land, he says he'd love to play for the Super Bowl
champion Baltimore Ravens.
For more reports from Sean Fazende and Garland Gillen at the NFL Combine, tune into FOX 8.
