Manti Te’o spent Thursday night with his family in Hawaii, watching the first round of the NFL Draft, expecting a phone call that never came.

That call finally came Friday.

The San Diego Chargers moved up seven spots in the second round to draft the Punahou School graduate from Laie, apparently not worried about a hoax involving a fake girlfriend or a poor performance in Notre Dame’s national championship game loss, which have dogged him for four months.

"I did expect to go in the first round. But things happened and all it did was give me more motivation to get better," Te’o said in a conference call with reporters based in San Diego. "I don’t know if I have something to prove, but it definitely puts a huge fire under my butt to just be better. Again, that’s the best thing that ever could happen to me. I’m already naturally a motivated person who just wants to be the best. All (Thursday) did was just give me more motivation and more fire to just go out there and play football and do well at it."

Te’o did not go to New York for the first round, instead staying at a North Shore residence. While all three local television stations on Oahu were invited to that vacation rental on Thursday and Friday for the draft, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the Associated Press, the NFL Network and ESPN were not. Brian Te’o, Manti’s father, not only controlled which media organizations were allowed in, but how the event itself was covered. For example, no interviews were allowed Thursday after Manti was not selected in the first round.

Asked Friday if he dropped into the second round because of the off-field issues and his flop in the blowout loss to Alabama in the national championship game, Manti Te’o said: "I really don’t know. That’s a question that you’ve got to ask the teams."

One of those Crimson Tide stars, right tackle D.J. Fluker, was selected by the Chargers with the 11th pick overall on Thursday.

Two officials, each with a different team, said their clubs passed on Te’o in the first round partly because of his off-field issues. The men, speaking on condition of anonymity because team draft strategy is confidential, said the decision was not just because of a disappointing combine performance or the linebacker’s poor performance in the national title game.

Chargers general manager Tom Telesco traded with Arizona to move up seven spots so he could select Te’o with the 38th pick overall.

The Chargers need inside linebackers because Takeo Spikes was released and Demorrio Williams is a free agent.

"It’s a perfect scenario," Te’o said. "My parents can come and watch, I can go home, it’s San Diego. We’re all excited. I can’t be any happier. Just looking forward to getting up there and getting this whole thing started."

The Heisman Trophy runner-up became the butt of national jokes after it was revealed he was duped into an Internet romance he had with a girlfriend he never met.

Te’o said everything he’s gone through has increased his passion for the game because "that’s my sanctuary, that’s my fortress where I’m most comfortable. All it has done is made me look forward to when I’m back on that field again."

"He’s a great kid," Telesco said. "We did a lot of work on Te’o and I’ve seen him for a number of years. He loves football. He’s passionate about it. He loves to practice. He loves to play. He’s a lot like D.J. in that regard. He’ll bring that to us."

Needing another linebacker, "Te’o can step in," the GM said. "We thought he was the most instinctive and productive linebacker in the draft. He’s going to fit in excellent with our 3-4 defense with how we’re going to play our linebackers. He’s going to complement Donald Butler really well. We thought in order to get him we had to be aggressive and go up and do it."

Te’o was scheduled to fly to San Diego on Friday night to meet with the Chargers, but a parade this afternoon honoring Te’o and Notre Dame teammate Robby Toma will take place as planned, city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said.

Te’o is "very grateful to everyone in the community who has come out to support him," Broder Van Dyke said.

The parade will begin at 4 p.m. beside Hauula Beach Park, and end about 5 p.m. at Laie Park, where a community celebration will be held.