sport news Manti Te'o gets a hero's welcome at Notre Dame on emotional return to South Bend trends now
Former football player Manti Te'o made his first public appearance at Notre Dame since being the victim of a high-profile catfishing scheme involving a fake girlfriend.
The 31-year-old received an raucous reception during his first public outing at the school in over a decade and his first at a game since Netflix released a two-part documentary series detailing how he was deceived.
'It's always good to be home,' Te'o said while speaking to fans prior to the Irish's game vs. California.
'There's no place like home. But I want to make this real clear: It's not about me. It's not about one person. It's about this whole family.'
He attended Mass with the team at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus before walking with the team before the game to the stadium.
He stopped briefly with coach Marcus Freeman to address the crowd, with Touchdown Jesus as a backdrop.
Manti Te'o entering Notre Dame Stadium before the Fighting Irish against the Golden Bears
Te'o met the woman, who he believed to be a 22-year-old student named Lennay Kekua, online in late 2011, and the athlete quickly fell for her. Seen is the woman he believed to be Kekua
'This team needs all of us,' Te'o said. 'It's easy to jump on the bandwagon when everything is going great.
'It's easy to get on when everything is right. But what I want to know is, who is with me?
'Who is going to get off that wagon and start pushing with me? That's why I am here.'
It was eventually uncovered that Kekua was actually Tuiasosopo (pictured recently), one of Te'o's childhood friends who has since come out as a transgender woman
Te'o high-fived fans as he walked through the crowd, stopping briefly for photos. He said it was his fourth time back at Notre Dame since news broke about the hoax.
Te'o has been pleasantly surprised by the positive responses from the Netflix documentary Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn´t Exist, which was released last month.
'All the facts are out there and I'm happy with it because it's factual. Since Day 1, it's been nothing but positive.'
Before joining the San Diego Chargers in 2013 as a second-round pick, Teo played linebacker and came runner-up for the Heisman Trophy - the award for college football's
