Local baseball team briefly featured in popular Manti Te'o Netflix documentary
One of the most polarizing sports stories of the 21st century has resurfaced in a new docu-series.
Former University of Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o is the subject of “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist,” a Netflix documentary about his past online relationship that turned into one of the first well-documented catfishing scandals since the rise of social media.
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Te’o rose to national fame during the 2012 college football season, racking up numerous awards and leading Notre Dame to the BCS National Championship Game against the University of Alabama. He became the feel-good story of the year after he overcame the deaths of his grandmother and girlfriend, Lennay Kekua.
However, a Deadspin article later revealed that his girlfriend was actually an elaborate social media hoax led by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. Tuiasosopo has since come out as a transgender woman, and she goes by Naya Tuiasosopo.
The two-episode documentary highlights all sides of the story, including Tuiasosopo’s. It also touches on the general reaction to the incident, as the 2013 second-round pick quickly became a social pariah.
The second episode highlighted multiple instances in which organizations made jokes at Te’o’s expense, including a “Saturday Night Live” skit and a local baseball team’s promotional event.
A past clip from a WLWT newscast about the Florence Freedom – now known as the Florence Y’alls – of the Frontier League and their 2013 Manti Te’o Girlfriend Bobblehead Night aired for approximately eight seconds. The promotion created national headlines due to the bobblehead boxes having nothing inside them.
Te’o finished his college career as one of the most accomplished players in the country. He recorded 113 total tackles and seven interceptions during his sensational senior year. However, he has only played in 62 NFL games and hasn’t appeared in a regular-season contest since 2019. Te’o played in a playoff game for the Chicago Bears during the 2020 campaign and registered six total tackles.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Northern Kentucky baseball team featured in Manti Te'o Netflix doc
