Manti Te'o, one of the highest-profile rookies in recent memory, is in the headlines again. This time, however, the press is positive; Te'o helped fellow rookie D.J. Fluker learn to swim and overcome his fear of water.
According to Fluker, at the age of four he sank to the bottom of a pool and nearly drowned, making him afraid of water ever since. As Te'o was swimming laps he noticed Fluker sticking to the shallow end and offered to help him get over his fear.
"I was terrified of water," Fluker said. "He was like, 'Man, relax. I got you.'" Te'o held Fluker up while instructing him on the proper way to synchronize his arms and legs so that he could swim in deeper water. The Chargers new linebacker seems to be assimilating with his NFL team just fine after one of the most tumultuous draft processes in NFL history.
This winter Te'o, who was a Heisman trophy finalist as Notre Dame's middle linebacker, was a punch line day after day following bizarre revelations about his relationship with a fake, dead woman.
Te'o had long been believed to be in a relationship with a woman named Lennay Kekua, who as the legend goes, tragically passed away on the same day as Te'o's beloved grandmother. That week Te'o had one of his finest games against Michigan State.
His story touched millions and helped fuel his Heisman campaign as the Fighting Irish made their way to the BCS Championship. Before the title game, however, it was revealed that Kekua had never existed.
Te'o claimed to have been "catfished," or hoaxed by someone pretending to be Kekua. Still suspicion trailed him. The relationship supposedly spanned several years, and in that whole time he had never seen her or spoken to her face-to-face. A family associate named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo eventually admitted to perpetrating the hoax.
The scandal is believed to have lowered Te'o's draft stock, as was his less than stellar performance against Alabama in a blowout championship game loss. It was also concerning to some executives how he would deal with ribbing and taunting in NFL locker rooms. His Chargers coaches, though, say he is doing well.
"Te'o has been a quiet workman. His approach to training, on and off the practice field, has earned him respect in the Chargers' locker room. While deferring the vocal role to such veterans as inside linebacker Donald Butler, he'll talk to teammates with the goal of bringing people together," according to The Union-Tribune in San Diego.
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