Matthew Masifilo Defends Manti Te'o: Ex-Stanford Player Believes Notre Dame Star Is Victim

Former Stanford defensive end Matthew Masifilo, now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, believes that Manti Te'o was a victim in the hoax surrounding his girlfriend Lennay Kekua, who Deadspin revealed never even existed.

That a Stanford player would weigh in on this confounding case is of note because the supposed first meeting between Te'o and Kekua in 2009 occurred after a Stanford-ND game. The South Bend Tribune published a story in October 2012 describing how Te'o and Kekua met in Palo Alto. After the Deadspin revealed that Kekua never existed and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick indicated that Te'o said he had conducted the relationship exclusively online and over the telephone, Masifilo's tweet may raise more questions about what transpired at that game.

Later on Wednesday evening, Masifilo tweeted that "we really have to let things play out before making serious judgements."

Click HERE to read Te'o's full statement. Click HERE to read the full Notre Dame statement.

Scroll down to see how others reacted to the report of the hoax on Twitter.