The longer Manti Te’o waits to tell his story, the more Notre Dame’s All-American linebacker fights a losing public opinion battle, sports agents say.

"If what he is saying is true, that he was a victim of a hoax, he should’ve come out right away and spoken," said Kenny Zuckerman of Priority Sports, which has represented more than 30 NFL first-round draft picks.

"If he was my client, I would have had him come out two weeks ago and been in front of the story," Zuckerman said.

Te’o has yet to appear publicly in the wake of revelations Wednesday that the girlfriend whose alleged death helped make him a figure of national sympathy this past season was a fake.

Other than a short statement circulated by his representative, Creative Artists Agency, Te’o has not addressed the issue. Nor has he responded to questions that his statement, a Notre Dame press conference and additional revelations have raised. Te’o’s agent, Tom Condon, and CAA have not responded to requests for comment.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick held a press conference Wednesday and said he expected Te’o to address the situation Thursday. A rumored one-on-one interview with ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap on Thursday did not come off.

"When there is a crisis situation, it is always good to try and respond as quickly as you can, usually in the first 24 hours," said Clark Hap­ton­stall, an agent and director of the sport management program at Rice University.

Notre Dame said Te’o learned of the hoax Dec. 6 but didn’t tell school officials until Dec. 26. Te’o and his family were told of the results of a Notre Dame investigation Jan. 4, three days prior to the Bowl Championship Series national title game in Miami.

Swarbrick said the Te’o family had planned to make an announcement next week until Dead­spin.com revealed the story Wednesday on its site.

Zuckerman said, "it is a little disconcerting that he hasn’t spoken yet. He could have been on top of this two weeks ago. You don’t want to make this the focus of the national championship (game), so the day the game is over, especially after playing a game like that and not playing well, you want to let people know what was going on and how the pressure of it (affected) him."

Zuckerman said, "I would have produced the cellphone bills that showed he was on the phone for all those hours. I would have produced a bill for the flowers (sent). I would have had him show all that stuff, boom, boom, boom."

Frank Vuono, a New York-based marketing executive and agent whose clients have included the New York Giants and NFL, said, "The advice we give our clients is to tell the truth because as much as it hurts now, it only gets worse if you don’t. People in this country are willing to forgive."

But, Vuono said, "The longer he waits, the more people think he is concocting a story. It is better to get it out than let it continue to fester."

Haptonstall said, "He won’t get his story across until he gets in front of people."