Manti Te’o Has A Slow 40 Yard Dash and Problems Keep Piling Up

Feb 25, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te

Manti Te’o wanted his on field performance to define him. Well… except for the BCS Championship game when he was manhandled by Alabama. Other than that he wants his on field performance to define him.

After fielding and trying to avoid the issue of talking about his fake dead girlfriend during interviews with the media Manti Te’o finally got to show his stuff at the combine. Only he didn’t do really well.

Supposedly he ran a 4.81 second 40 yard dash. Slow for an inside linebacker and slower than expected. The over/under time for him was originally set at 4.75 seconds.

He also weighed in at 241 pounds and measured 6’1″ which makes him undersized for the position. Speed was supposed to be the equalizer and reverse any doubts about his abilities due to his size.

This poor showing at the combine added to his BCS Championship performance and coupled with the internet cat fishing hoax could be too much damage for Manti Te’o to overcome in this April’s NFL Draft.

He is already missing the bench press event at the Scouting Combine due to a stinger. The only thing prospective NFL teams could cling on to is the entire body of work from his time at Notre Dame possibly maybe overlooking his performance against Alabama, a team that overmatched all opponents.

And like Tim Tebow, maybe some team will be drawn to his intangibles like his leadership qualities.

And apparently Ravens head coach John Harbuagh (courtesy of Bleacher Report) isn’t impressed.