Of all people in the media, Mike Mayock occupies the most unique position when it comes to the question of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o’s draft stock in the wake of the hoax that he was or wasn’t involved in.
Mayock is NFL Network’s in-house draft expert, and he also provides on-air analysis during Notre Dame’s home games for NBC.
“Like most of the people that surround the Notre Dame program and all over the country, people that watched those games, I’m a little bit confused right now,” Mayock said Thursday on NFL Network. “I have a lot of respect for Manti Te’o, I’ve gotten to know him over the last few years and at this point all I can do is what I think NFL teams are doing, which is taking a step back [and] waiting for the facts to come out. And ultimately these facts will come out. In addition to the public understanding, I also think that all 32 teams will get ample opportunity to interview this kid. How he handles this going forward is going to be critical to his future as an NFL player.”
Mayock is right. But we still don’t know how Te’o will handle it, because he has remained silent in the wake of the news that his deceased girlfriend never existed, but for a written statement in which he claims he was the victim.
He will soon be the victim of a fickle and judgmental public if he doesn’t share his story, especially since the vacuum is being filled with more and more nuggets highlighting inconsistencies and raising questions about whether he truly had no role in the hoax.