In light of the recent Manti Te’o madness, I would like to offer up my own opinion on the situation.

For those of you who have somehow missed one of the largest and strangest sports stories of all time, here’s a little background for you:Manti Te’o just completed his senior football season at the University of Notre Dame in which he was the starting middle linebacker and a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. At some ambiguous time in 2012, Teo’s girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, gets in a near-fatal car wreck and is on the brink of death for some time. Upon recovery, doctors discover she has leukemia, and Kekua begins treatment. Later in the season, Te’o’s grandmother and girlfriend both die within a few hours of each other. The day after receiving this news, Te’o plays an outstanding game against Michigan State which the Fighting Irish went on to win. After this story hit the national media, Teo’s situation quickly becomes an inspirational tale. He gives several interviews to media outlets such as ESPN, discussing his pain and how he had to fight through it for his fans and loved ones.

Here’s where the story begins to break down. The sports website Deadspin.com reported earlier this month that the entire story involving Kekua was a hoax, claiming that she never existed. Despite earlier reports from Te’o’s father that Te’o had spent time with Kekua face to face on several occasions, Notre Dame held a press conference saying that Te’o and Kekua’s relationship was entirely online, and that Te’o was solely a victim in this whole experience.With all of that background out of the way, I only see a few potential scenarios here that make sense:

1. Te’o is unbelievably and monumentally stupid. Assuming he was actually tricked into all of this by some sociopathic weirdo, doesn’t it also make him the worst boyfriend ever? His girlfriend got in a near-fatal car wreck, had cancer for an extended period of time, AND had a funeral — NONE OF WHICH TE’O ATTENDED. I mean, I suppose weirder things have happened, but isn’t that one of the most unbelievable stories of all time? I find this one incredibly hard to buy.

2. Te’o intentionally makes up the whole story to make himself a media darling and help his Heisman Trophy campaign. If this is the true scenario, it worked well for a while. Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS, NBC, Yahoo Sports and USA Today all ran stories on Kekua and Te’o’s relationship and how it was affecting one of the NCAA’s best players on one of the NCAA’s best teams. His national profile rose significantly because of this heartbreaking situation, and no doubt made him more prominent in the minds of Heisman voters. To me, this scenario makes the most sense.

There are other speculations that make some sense, such as that he lied as a cover for being gay and the lies spun out of control (Te’o is from a devout Mormon family, was one of the most popular people at a Catholic school, and played in a sport that is not known for being welcoming to homosexuality), but I think the two I listed are far more likely. Either way, this situation is just too weird. We may never actually know the entire story or motive for whoever perpetuated it, but we can already be sure it will be one of the biggest sports stories of 2013.

— Hunter Tipton is a senior in microbiology. He can be reached at [email protected].