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Manti Te’o Wants Focus on His Play, Not Hoax

Posted byBy Curtis Bunn | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

With all the attention — and humiliation — that came with being the center of a girlfriend hoax that gripped the nation last month, Manti Te’o wants to go into the NFL combines that start this week with football as the focal point.

Good luck with that.

The bizarre “girlfriend” story will be hard to shake for Te’o, but one way to distance himself from that madness would be through a stellar effort at the combines.

“What I did on the field is what I did on the field,” Te’o told USA Today. “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. As far as my stock dropping or rising, that’s not up to me. The only thing I have to do is just do well, run fast, just be myself, be quick.”

ESPN.com draft analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have Te’o being selected at No. 13 and No. 20 in their respective mock drafts.

Before the hoax, Te’o had been viewed as a possible Top 5 draft pick.

“I have to just go out there and perform and all that other stuff is behind me,” Te’o told the paper.

Apparently, Te’o has centered his thoughts on getting ready to impress NFL scouts.

“He missed precisely one day,” said former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke, the director of football operations at IMG Academy, where Te’o has been preparing for the combine.

“He’s gone about his business and been the same guy all along,” Weinke said. “I really admire that because a lot of guys his age would not be able to handle this as well as he has. I haven’t seen any signs of it being a distraction and I expect him to go up to Indianapolis and have a great combine.”

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