Who is Manti Te'o

For those that you don't know Manti Te'o, he is a passionate football player who played for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. His natural talent to play the linebacker position has won him a lot of awards and became known as a very much decorated collegiate football player. Manti is originally hailed from Oahu, Hawaii and he also received many awards as a high school football player.

Te'o was born in a family of seven which is of Samoan ancestry. He is the second son of Brian and Ottilia Te'o and has five other siblings including 4 sisters and one brother. He began playing football for a distinguished private school located in Honolulu, Hawaii - Punahou School. Even with being a high school sophomore in 2006, he got selected in the second-team all-state roster because of his stellar performance in just his first year of his varsity career. During his junior year, Manti won the Gatorade state player of the year and the Honolulu Advertiser state defensive player of the year in 2007. Recruiters from various colleges around the nation all started to take notice of his superior feat. His senior year at Punahou School would eventually become one of his best performances to date.

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Te'o already received a lot of scholarship offers from state and national colleges even before the start of his 2008-09 senior year. In actual fact, he was presented football scholarships from over 30 colleges from around the nation. He did not fail the expectations that were expected of him. Punahou won the Hawaii Football State Championship because of Manti's performance during the 2008 season. In addition, Te'o was considered as the overall state player of the year by The Honolulu Advertiser. Because of his high school achievements, Manti Te'o was considered as among the most decorated and highly recruited players in the entire history of Hawaii. At the end of the season, Te'o fully commited to play for the University of Notre Dame.

On September 5, 2009, Manti head to play in his first collegiate football game. He entered in the second quarter in the game in opposition to Nevada Wolfpacks. His first collegiate start as a Fighting Irish was against the Purdue Boilermakers. He was able to make 63 tackles in his freshman year and was named the third-nearly all number tackler completed by a Notre Dame freshman. He was included in the Freshman All-American team by the College Football News in December 8, 2009 Moreover, Rivals.com included him in the second-team Freshman All-American in the same year.

In 2010 during his sophomore year, they switched his position from outside linebacker to inside linebacker. This was Manti's natural position. The switch happened by defensive coach Bob Diaco because the Notre Dame football team incorporated the 3-4 defensive scheme. Te'o racked up a total of 133 tackles after the implementation of the new defensive scheme along with his natural football skills. In the game in opposition to Stanford, he was able to acquire a total of 21 tackles which became his career high. This record broke the 2006 highest number of tackles carried out by a Notre Dame player. He was in the running for The Butkus Award and Bednarik Award which are given to the top collegiate defensive player. CNNSI added him in the second-team All-American football team.

Manti repeated his defensive prowess in his junior year. During the 2011 season, he compilied a total of 128 tackles. He became a finalist for the Lott Trophy and Butkus Award for his superior feat on the field. He was eventually selected as the 2011 FBS Independent Defensive Player of the Year. He was once again included in the second-team All-American teams by several organizations. By year end, Te'o won the outstanding collegiate football player Maxwell Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the college defensive player of the year.

During Manti's senior season, he was able to accumulate 300 career tackles overall and became the team's lead tackler. Aside from the tackles, he led the team in the number of interceptions. In the history of college sports, Te'o is considered as one of the the majority decorated defensive players by many sports analyst. He was able to include the 2012 Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year Lott Trophy to his portfolio of awards. Moreover, Manti was on the verge of winning the 2012 Heisman Trophy Award, however fell shy to Johnny Manziel. In spite of an unforgettable season with the Fighting Irish and the team's winning attitude, they eventually finished short for the national title against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

No matter what the news is about Manti Te'o, his love for the game and his team mates has taken him to where he is today. Te'o has proven to the world that he can play and contribute to any football team. He has shown great leadership, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm on the field which led his Fighting Irish to a undefeated season. NFL teams have shown interest in signing him for his extraordinary performance and leadership skills on the field by which exemplifies a true football player. He is currently training and preparing for the upcoming 2013 NFL draft where is likely to be picked in the early rounds The anticipation & curiousity is building and hovering over the team to be awarding the Manti Te'o jersey and will be the most watched selection during the NFL draft. The Manti Te'o journey to the NFL will be an epic event, if you have read this far thank you for being be part of it!

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