NFL Scouting Combine 2013: Manti Te’o Blames Slow 40 On Stress

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

Manti Te’o had an incredibly bad performance running a 4.8  4o yard dash. Many people have the struggling linebacker sliding down their draft boards.

But for Manti Te’o his NFL Scouting Combine started him with facing the media for a press conference where he was bombarded with questions about the whole fake dead girlfriend situation. Only this time he didn’t get to choose who he talked to when he talked to and whether cameras were on or off.

And he is blaming the stress of the combine experience for his poor performance.

“I was running near a 4.6, a 4.5,” Te’o told NFL Network after officially clocking a 4.82-second 40-yard dash. “Today was just a long, long day.”

He described the combine as a very exhausting process,” and said he wasn’t getting much sleep averaging 4 hours of sleep a night.

But despite all that stress, his poor showing at the combine isn’t causing him any additional stress. He thinks he can redeem himself at Notre Dame’s pro day.

“[People can expect] better numbers,” Te’o said. “[I will be] rested.  One day you hit it hard and then you are done.”

It might be naive on his part to think there will be less stress on him the second time around. In that situation your back is literally against the wall as you fight for your football life.