Manti Te’o Samoan Pride

I have been following Manti Te'o since his high school game when he decided to go to Notre Dame which has been my favourite college football team since I was introduced to college football by reading old sport magazines in the late eighties.

So I was really hyped to see the Alabama - Notre Dame game but left after five minutes as couldn't handle it especially after Te'o missed tackles. But now it makes sense. The shame of being duped in front of the world must be weighing heavily on him and also am sure it will affect his future psych in playing NFL games.

Samoan's are similar to Fijian's in terms of pride and community and trying to not look stupid in front of  other people. Especially foreigners.

After reading about the hoax there is little possibility that Te'o was doing this as a confidence trick to get more heisman votes. If you believe this you don't understand islanders. He is also a Mormon so I am guessing that relationships and courting is different the normal Notre Dame College athletes.

I can also see him continuing with the lie once he has found out about it because of the pressure it would be on the team and also shame for him as a representative of Samoa and the Mormon church.

For me the main reason he doesn't want to be seen on TV is the shame he has given Samoan's.
The number of Samoan's in the world is small but their influence in Society is significant and Te'o is one of new stars coming through.

I have seen this sort of trick happen a lot in Fiji but not to such a long extent.

Te'o going forward you just going to have to eat this bad episode and your future deeds on the Football field will be what people will remember.

I still have faith in you that you will represent the Islands in the NFL going forward and am proud of what you have accomplished at Notre Dame.