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Ex-Cardinal fullback says he met Te'o's girlfriend

By Associated Press

POSTED:
LAST UPDATED: 02:03 p.m. HST, Jan 17, 2013

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o answered a question during media day for the BCS national championship NCAA college football game in Miami.

TEMPE, Ariz. » Former Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Maui'a says he met the girlfriend of Notre Dame's Manti Te'o, a woman the university and Te'o now say doesn't exist.

Maui'a told ESPN that he met Lennay Kekua in 2011 while he and some teammates were on a charity mission to American Samoa.

Maui'a told the network that this was before the woman met Te'o and that he and Kekua became "good friends."

Maui'a was through talking about the issue on Thursday, saying in a tweet "if ur calling me for a story, plz don't. I have better things to do... I gotta make breakfast."

Maui'a was released by the Cardinals on Oct. 30, the last of his five stints with the team. Maui'a played at Hawaii and was drafted in the sixth round by Miami. He played briefly with the Dolphins and with Cincinnati before coming to Arizona.

Maui'a told ESPN that Kekua "was tall, volleyball-type of physique. She was athletic, tall, beautiful. Long hair. Polynesian. She looked like a model."

He said he got to know her family.

"When she was going through the loss of her father, I was — I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off," Maui'a said. "That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

His detailed description flies in the face of the acknowledgment by Notre Dame and Te'o that the woman was fictional.

By today, Maui'a was only offering cryptic phrases on Twitter.

In response to someone offering support, he wrote, "Thanks bro,, this entire thing is crazy."

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allie wrote:
weird
on January 17,2013 | 11:00AM
turbolink wrote:
Equally as weird as your online activities that are also imaginary or contradictory.
on January 17,2013 | 04:42PM
ezridah wrote:
it's an epidemic !!!! did he meet her on-line too
on January 17,2013 | 11:13AM
primo1 wrote:
Yeah, I met Lenny too last summer while eating shave ice at Matsumoto's. We argued over who's shave ice was better - Matsumoto's or Waiola - and even though we disagreed, we became close friends. And that was just from a conversation over shave ice. Lol... Maybe this is the only way a sixth-round journeyman can get any press...
on January 17,2013 | 11:24AM
loquaciousone wrote:
I was having a Primo beer that day....
on January 17,2013 | 12:55PM
HonoluluHawaii wrote:
I rather have plain water. Broke da mouth.
on January 17,2013 | 02:36PM
ezridah wrote:
so wuz Manlie...I mean Manti
on January 18,2013 | 05:16AM
awahana wrote:
Hi, this is Lenny. I am here. What's all the fuss?
I feel like some volleyball and samoan crab...can I pose for SI swimsuit issue?
on January 17,2013 | 11:35AM
mctruck wrote:
No mo photos?, no mo any pictures while in Sanoa wit anybody? Is she the same Lennay who appeared momentarily on the internet??? I like see who she is/wuz, wat-evers.
on January 17,2013 | 01:03PM
group22 wrote:
I met the Easter Bunny once....and Santa Claus too...
on January 17,2013 | 01:50PM
kaulanakala wrote:
Hmmm I see a book and a movie deal!!!! it just might overshadow RUDY...LOLOL...Nutter Lame sucks....
on January 17,2013 | 02:28PM
primo1 wrote:
Rudy was another piece of ND mythology that got WAY overblown. His story didn't have a happy ending (securities fraud)...I wonder how Te'o's will end...
on January 17,2013 | 03:01PM
loio wrote:
Notre Dame is a great school. Just because you could never get in there doesn't mean you need to talk stink about it, loser.
on January 18,2013 | 02:52AM
HonoluluHawaii wrote:
Manti Teo is making national news. Can anyone say that? Only the fortunate top 5% of society. This kind of fictional friend has existed in the minds of mere mortals before. Just leave Manti alone, lol.
on January 17,2013 | 02:38PM
hawaii_io wrote:
No! He needs to explain why he played along with this bulls**t story! Its local bruddah's like you that make us Hawaiians look ignorant!
on January 18,2013 | 05:00PM
64hoo wrote:
she was tall athletic beautiful long hair sounds like the Alabama quarterbacks girl friend all he did was add the Polynesian to it. I wonder.
on January 17,2013 | 10:53PM
hawaii_io wrote:
Bruddah give it up!!!! You MET his girlfriend? How can, when he said it was a hoax? Reagan, I know you like back this bruddah up, but you only making your self and your name appear stupid! It was a "MAKE BELIEVE STORY", so enough with the the "I get your back brah" mentality! Manti needs to open his mouth, and tell the truth, before more people blinded by his popularity get hurt and end up making fools of themselves!
on January 18,2013 | 04:58PM
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