Where is Manti Te’o now? The NFL star was famously catfished while playing for Notre Dame and just opened up to Netflix in Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist – all thanks to Jay-Z?
- Notre Dame University’s linebacker Manti Te’o was the subject of sympathy then ridicule when the world discovered his dead girlfriend didn’t exist, but he did go on to play in the NFL
- After a stint with the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints, he is now a free agent, married to fitness influencer Jovi Nicole Engbino and soon to be a father – again!
Manti Te’o was a University of Notre Dame American football star in the US known for being a devout Christian, a good student and a dedicated athlete. In 2012, his grandmother and his girlfriend tragically died in the same week, but Te’o continued to play on in key matches for his team. His dedication to the sport made him a candidate for the Heisman trophy, an award given to an outstanding university American football player “whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity”. Fans thought he was destined for bigger things in the NFL.
However, Te’o’s reputation was tarnished when sports website Deadspin reported that his dead girlfriend Lennay Kekua didn’t actually exist at all.
It turned out that Te’o had been catfished – he had never met Kekua in person and had actually been corresponding virtually with a person named Ronaiah “Naya” Tuiasosopo, who had created a fake profile and story for the non-existent Kekua. Te’o became the subject of ridicule, and Forbes even named him The Most Disliked Athlete of 2013 alongside Lance Armstrong.
But Netflix’s Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist, a documentary film and the sixth instalment of the streaming platform’s Untold series, which released this month, gave Te’o the chance to tell his side of the story. So where is the sports star now?
He used to play for the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints
In the Netflix documentary, Te’o revealed that he was surprised not to have been a first draft pick for an NFL team despite his collegiate star status. He was eventually drafted to the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft. He played there until 2017, before he moved to the New Orleans Saints, where he played for three seasons.
His last contract was with the Chicago Bears, where he was added to the practice squad in 2020. His contract expired in 2021, and NBC Sports Edge now lists him as an unsigned free agent.
His net worth is US$3.5 million thanks to his NFL career
