2013 NFL Draft: Manti Te’o Says Off Field Stuff is Irrelevant

Sep 22, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te

There has to be nothing harder than walking into the NFL Scouting Combine to sit down at a gauntlet of interviews with potential employers. Especially when they are all going to ask you about the Lennay, fake girlfriend situation. This is what Manti Te’o faces soon. He has to play damage control and reassure all these NFL franchises that he has some mental stability and isn’t too gullible and won’t be taken advantage of the inevitable clinger ons that NFL fame brings.

Manti Te’o says he plans on putting on a great work out and thinks thats all the teams should need. At least that’s the gist of what he told the USA Today. All that matters is his on field accomplishments and none of the off field stuff.

“I have to just go out there and perform and all that other stuff is behind me,” Te’o told the USA Today. “What I did on the field is what I did on the field. I don’t think what I did with this whole situation, I don’t understand how it takes away from what I did on the field.”

“As far as my stock dropping or rising, that’s not up to me. The only thing I have to do is just do well, run fast, just be myself, be quick.”

He interestingly is an IMG client and could have appeared in the notorious Harlem Shake video.

But he has learned from his adversities, and by that I mean the “cat fishing” experience he went through and he has deactivated his Twitter as of February, 5th and doesn’t have any plans to return to social media.

“It’s been a distraction for me,” he said, “so I needed to get rid of it.”

Saying it was a distraction is underplaying it. How about “it’s the skid mark on my shiny gold Notre Dame helmet?”

“The worst thing I could do in this whole situation is change who I am that has brought me to this point,” he said.”My trust in people is the same. I’m just more cautious. ”

“I just want them to know, whoever picks me just let them know that you’re choosing someone who loves the game,” Te’o said. “I want to be the best at it.

“It’s because of my work ethic that I’ve come this far.”