Manti Te’o Says Fake Girlfriend Hoax Should Not Affect NFL Draft Stock

Linebackers will report to the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday and all eyes will be on Manti Te’o.

Te’o will be pressed hard by NFL teams about his involvement with and dishonesty surrounding the Lennay Kekua fake girlfriend hoax. But the former Notre Dame linebacker says that situation should not affect his draft stock.

“I have to just go out there and perform and all that other stuff is behind me,” Te’o told USA Today. “What I did on the field is what I did on the field. I don’t think what I did with this whole situation, I don’t understand how it takes away from what I did on the field.”

Te’o is concentrated on training for the combine for now. But part of that training should be preparing for the barrage of questions NFL teams will throw at him about his fake girlfriend. NFL coaches and general managers consider medicals and interviews the most important part of the yearly trek to Indianapolis, Ind., according to NFL.com.

“As far as my stock dropping or rising, that’s not up to me,” Te’o said. “The only thing I have to do is just do well, run fast, just be myself, be quick.”

Before Te’o’s poor performance in the national championship game and the reveal of the hoax, the former Golden Domer was being viewed as a possibility for the Chiefs’ No. 1 overall selection in the draft. That hype has died down by now, but he’s still viewed as a late-first-round prospect.