See that photo of Mr. Te'o standing in front of a podium. Well, soak it in because the Chargers aren't gonna let the media have another crack at him until the team gathers for minicamp on June 11, according to NFL.com. Clearly, the team wants to shield their rookie linebacker from any unneeded questions about his embarrassing "catfishing" incident from his college days and let the poor kid focus on football. So, how do we feel about this? It's difficult to say. The Te'o jokes have pretty much run their course, but things like this keep popping up here and there:
I know they're kinda worn out but still had to post this Manti Te'o gf pic.. #FloatingHelmet twitter.com/D_Geiger/statu… — Dustin Geiger (@D_Geiger) May 21, 2013
Some writers out there applaud the move, and it's hard to argue with their logic:
Column: Manti Te'o will survive the scandal. Not sure about the media. We're idiots cbsprt.co/14t4EIl — Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelCBS) May 21, 2013
If the Chargers' decision makes the media upset, who really cares? The team has to do what's in the best interest for THEM, not care about what a bunch of scribes have to say. However, Denver Post columnist Mike Klis brings up a good point, when he says "By not making Te’o available, the fact Te’o isn’t available becomes the Charger’s top story. Great." Then he adds, "The less Te’o is available, the greater the chances he will be asked about his Internet girlfriend controversy when he is available. The more he’s available, the easier it is for people/media to move on." "This is the big one: If Te’o doesn’t talk, then the media doing a story on Te’o has little choice but to ask his teammates and coaches about Te’o. That ain’t good. That causes some resentment among players. Te’o needs love; not resentment. Te’o shouldn’t be treated as special. By having a different set of rules for him, he becomes special. Again, that’s a problem in the locker room." So, by blocking Te’o from the media to reduce distractions, Klis is saying the Chargers are actually opening the door for even more distractions! Are your eyes crossed with confusion yet? Listen, we here at Laces Out say that Manti Te’o might be a youngster, but he seems to handling himself pretty well. After all, he WAS in attendance at the Maxim 100 party to honor the fictional Lennay Kekua.
Doesn’t he look like he’s having fun? Something tells us we’re not giving Te’o enough credit. If he can take this, he can deal with anything:
Questions? Comments? Send them to lacesoutmail@gmail.com and we might respond in our weekly mailbag!
