One of the lingering questions regarding the question-plentiful Manti Te’o imbroglio arises from the decision to delay disclosing the fake dead girlfriend story long enough to be scooped by Deadspin.
A league source tells PFT that the reason, as these reasons often do, arises from dollars and cents.
Te’o’s camp, per the source, was attempting aggressively to nail down marketing deals before the story broke, with among other things major shoe and apparel companies. There was reluctance to proceed, given Te’o’s struggles in the BCS national title game and the uncertainty as to whether he’ll be playing for a high-profile team or a franchise that is an NFL afterthought.
If one or more deals had been consummated, an interesting question would have arisen regarding whether the company would thereafter have attempted to kill the deal, once word of the fake dead girlfriend broke. On one hand, Te’o apparently did nothing to violate the standard morals clauses contained in such contracts. On the other hand, the companies would have been frustrated, to say the least, by the fact that Te’o’s fame had quickly become notoriety.
Moving forward, the question is whether Te’o will have any value in the wake of one of the more bizarre stories in recent, or distant, memory.