Manti Te'o comes home again to hero's reception from the Notre Dame family
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In front of Touchdown Jesus, Manti Te’o embraced the moment. And for the first time in a decade at Notre Dame, the moment fully embraced him back
“It’s always great to be home,” the former Notre Dame All-America linebacker said, addressing a crowd of Notre Dame fans — at head coach Marcus Freeman’s invitation — a couple of hours before the Irish hosted Cal, Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.
“There’s no place like home.”
Then prior to kickoff, Te’o was introduced to the Notre Dame crowd just ahead of the playing of America The Beautiful and the National Anthem to a thunderous ovation. He put his hand over his heart in response until he lost the battle with his tear ducts as the roar crescendoed.
It was Te’o’s fourth time back on campus since helping lead Notre Dame to its first No 1 ranking in roughly two decades, a berth in the BCS National Championship game and finishing second in the 2012 Heisman Trophy race to Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Then having his life turned upside down perpetually by a hijacked narrative.
A Netflix documentary released in August (Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist) gave him the last word on the catfishing scandal that for so long it was suggested he was complicit in. The documentary demonstrated otherwise.
“It surprised me,” Te’o said of the overwhelmingly positive feedback he’s received. “You know, honestly, I was a little bit anxious about it.
“I was like, ‘I don't want to talk about it again.’ And then you remind people — and not only remind people, but then people who don't know, like I don't know how they're gonna, you know, receive it.
“But all the facts are out there. And I'm happy with it, because it's factual and let's see how it does. And since day one, it's been nothing more positive.”
Te'o’s speech came during the “Victory March” — the post-Mass/pregame player walk from the Basilica to Notre Dame Stadium.
Earlier, he addressed the Notre Dame team and even gave Freeman a little pep talk about an 0-2 start to the season and the first 0-3 onset by a Notre Dame head coach to start a coaching regime.
“Man, that's life,” Te’o said when asked about the 2022 losses to Ohio State and Marshall. “That's the greatest thing about football. It's the greatest parallel to life. It's not going to start off the way that you wanted it to. Keep going.
“Life's not always going to be the way you want it to be. Keep going. You can't do anything about 0-2, but you can do something today. That's all it is.”
Decked out in the color of the day — green — blue jeans and gold shoes, Te’o’s life now includes a wife, Jovi Nicole Engbino, and a 1-year-old daughter (Hiromi) — both in tow on this trip, and a son on the way. Football is behind him, though he looks physically like he could step back into it if he had a hankering. Te'o is now involved with businesses in real estate and trucking.
Te’o was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers and played eight seasons with the Chargers, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears, with his final season being 2020.
“The greatest thing for me was obviously my wife and my kids. That's the greatest joy for me,” Te’o said of life without football. “I miss the game, I will say that. I miss playing the game. I miss the chess match that football is. At least it was for me. Trying to figure out what the offense is going to do before the ball snaps.
“I miss the plane rides. I miss the conversation with guys in the locker room. I miss all of that. That's the thing that every player will say when they step away from the game. Do we miss the game of football? Yes. But we miss the relationships. That's what I miss the most. But I have the greatest joy in my life with my kids.”
Little brother Manasseh, who used to lay at his parents’ feet during the long plane rides to and from Hawaii during Manti’s playing days at ND, is a junior in high school and playing football at Westlake High in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Te’o said his parents, Brian and Ottilia are doing well and are itching to make a trip back to Notre Dame.
“They want to see their little brothers,” Te’o said of the current Irish players.
When they do, they’ll likely note how much campus has changed, but not the feeling of it.
“There's just so many new things,” Te’o said. “But as far as the feel, it's always the same. Home is always going to be home. On a good day, bad day, when you go home, that's your sanctuary. And that’s what Notre Dame is for me.”
When asked why Te’o came back when Freeman asked him, the answer was simple.
“Because I owe Notre Dame everything,” he said. “I was asked the question yesterday. What is the best decision I ever made, and I said there's two of them. One to marry my wife, because she's the anchor of my life, and she's given me a daughter and a son on the way and the second was to come to this school.
“It’s everything to me.”
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