Manti Te’o’s Stock Falling

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

Manti Te’o has had a rough couple of months and it seems to be affecting him in all the wrong places.

First it was the awards ceremony when he received a phone call claiming his fake girlfriend was still alive… allegedly. Then, it showed during the BCS National Championship Game when he played awful against the stout Alabama running game.

The latest place that it seems to be affecting him is in the NFL combine. Manti has had a rough day thus far in Indianapolis and it doesn’t seem like it will let up.

He had a bad forty yard dash time in which he clocked in at 4.82 seconds which is just not good at all. He looks stiff and has looked like all the negative attention has affected him in the worst way possible. But, the undeniable facts are that Manti Te’o was a Heisman finalist and an All-American who led his team to the BCS National Championship game.

Say all the drama that surrounds Te’o makes teams shy away in the first round of the draft; Manti Te’o could prove to be a major steal or value pick if he does end up slipping into the 2nd round of the draft. Manti Te’o has a ton of strange and weird baggage that comes with him, but he could also prove to be a great NFL linebacker. All he has to do is avoid being cat-fished by a fake dead girlfriend, who was really a guy the whole time, or avoid lying again. Which ever story you prefer to believe.