Who is Manti Te'o

For those that you do not know Manti Te'o, he is a passionate football player who played for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. His true abilities to play the linebacker position has won him a lot of awards and became known as a very much decorated collegiate football player. As a football player from Honolulu, Hawaii, he managed to win numerous awards at the high school level.

Te'o was born in a family of seven which is of Samoan ancestry. He has five other siblings including one brother and four sisters their parents are Brian and Ottilia Te'o. He began playing football for a distinguished private school located in Honolulu, Hawaii - Punahou School. Despite being a high school sophomore in 2006, he got selected in the second-team all-state roster because of his stellar performance in just his first year of his varsity career. During his junior year, Manti won the Gatorade state player of the year and the Honolulu Advertiser state defensive player of the year in 2007. Because of his exceptional accomplishment, recruiters from different colleges all started to take interest in him. His greatest performance to date would eventually happen during his senior year at Punahou School.

Te'o already received so many scholarship offers from state and national colleges even before the beginning of his 2008-09 senior year. In fact, he received at least 30 college football scholarship offers. He delivered and met the expectations of an inside linebacker. Punahou won the Hawaii Football State Championship because of Manti's performance during the 2008 season. In addition, Te'o was considered as the overall state player of the year by The Honolulu Advertiser. Because of his high school achievements, Manti Te'o was considered as one of the most decorated and greatly recruited players in the entire history of Hawaii. By the end of Manti's thriving season, he decided to play football for the University of Notre Dame.

Te'o got to play in his first college game on September 5, 2009. He entered in the second quarter in the game in opposition to Nevada Wolfpacks. He then played his first collegiate begin in a game against Purdue Boilermakers. He was named the third-nearly all number tackler accomplished by a Notre Dame freshman after making 63 tackles during his freshman year. On December 8, 2009, Te'o was included in the Freshman All-American team by the College Football News. On top of that, Rivals.com included him in the second-team Freshman All-American in the same year.

In 2010 during his sophomore year, they switched his position from outside linebacker to inside linebacker. This was Manti's ultimate football position. The switch occurred,was made by defensive coach Bob Diaco because the Notre Dame football team incorporated the 3-4 defensive scheme. With the new defensive scheme along with his natural playing position, Te'o accumulated a total of 133 tackles. His career high of 21 tackles came in a game in opposition to Stanford. This number was considered the highest number of tackles made by a Notre Dame player since the year 2006. He became a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and Bednarik Award which are awarded to the best collegiate defensive player. CNNSI added him in the second-team All-American football team.

Manti continued his defensive prowess in his junior year. He accumulated a total of 128 tackles in the 2011 season. He became a finalist for the Lott Trophy and Butkus Award for his outstanding accomplishment on the field. He was ultimately recognized as the 2011 FBS Independent Defensive Player of the Year. Again, he was placed in the second-team All-American teams by various organizations. By year end, Te'o won the outstanding collegiate football player Maxwell Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the college defensive player of the year.

Te'o became the team's leading tackler during his senior year, compiling 300 career tackles overall. Aside from the tackles, he led the team in the number of interceptions. In the history of college sports, Te'o is considered as one of the nearly all decorated defensive players by a lot of sports analyst. He was able to include the 2012 Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year Lott Trophy to his portfolio of awards. And to top it all off, Te'o became a very much ranked candidate for the 2012 Heisman Trophy Award. However, despite a perfect season with the Fighting Irish and the team's strong performance, they eventually lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide for the national title.

Manti's love for the game and his team mates has taken him where he is today, regardless of what the news is reporting about him. His natural football abilities has proved to world that he can perform and contribute at the next level. He has led his Fighting Irish to a perfect season and displayed good leadership, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm on the field. His exceptional performance and leadership skills exemplifies a true football player, for this NFL teams have shown interest in signing him. He is expected to be picked in the early rounds of the upcoming 2013 NFL draft, which he is currently training and preparing for. The anticipation & curiousity is building and hovering over the team to be awarding the Manti Te'o jersey and will be the most watched selection during the NFL draft. An epic event is about to happen, if you have been reading this far thank you for being part of the Manti Te'o journey to the NFL!

On Friday, April 26, 2013, the San Diego Chargers selected Manti Te'o in the 2nd round of the 2013 NFL Draft. After trading two picks to the Arizona Cardinals, the Chargers selected Notre Dame linebacker star Manti Te'o at No. 38 overall. Manti will be wearing jersey number 51.

If you desire extra facts regarding Manti Te'o, we greet you to go over to this remarkable webpage [link anchor]. Or, if you rather get further general information about Manti Te'o, please see this website, Manti Te'o Twitter