Despite Notre Dames’s loss, Laie community members are still Manti Te’o fans. Laie’s own Manti Te’o, linebacker for Notre Dame football team, went head-to-head against Alabama for the BCS football championship. Notre Dame had a rough start making no touchdowns to Alabama’s 28 total in the first half. The Fighting Irish were able to make a couple of touchdowns but ultimately lost to the Crimson Tide for a final score of 42-14. “We are very proud of Manti. What he has accomplished this season was storybook. But it was the way he represented his family and his faith that was the most inspirational,” said Maurice Mo’o, a BYU Hawaii on-campus bishop and long-time resident of Laie. “We love him and wish him and his family the very best to come. We are honored to claim him as our own keiki kane. Although we all wish the outcome of the national championship game could’ve gone different, it doesn’t change our support for him.”The Fighting Irish’s performance at the BCS game pales in comparison to Te’o’s record-setting college football career. Te’o helped lead the Fighting Irish to a nearly undefeated season with 101 tackles, of which 46 were solo tackles. He also ranks third in Notre Dame college football history for career tackles. Te’o amassed a school-record seven interceptions in his third-straight, 100-plus tackle season. This includes helping Notre Dame to reach No. 1 in BCS ranking averages, showing up the Crimson Tide overall.Following the BCS game, the Star Bulletin published Te’o being “bowled over” on the front page. The image and caption upset people in the community and prompted them to sound off on the Bulletin’s Facebook page asking that they print a formal apology.“I think it’s unfortunate that Oahu’s only newspaper would so carelessly print a caption and photo of Manti Te’o that basically tells him, his family, his community, and his nation-wide supporters that the Honolulu Star Advertiser was only behind him when he was winning games,” Laie resident and BYU-Hawaii ‘08 alumnae Kim Pere Paalua said. Notwithstanding the result, Te’o remained unchanged and handled the outcome with dignity and pride. “I’m obviously disappointed, not necessarily all that we lost, but we just didn’t represent our school, our team, our families the way that we could have. So in that aspect it’s just disappointing. But at the same time, I’m proud to be part of this team,” Te’o told the South Bend Tribune. “What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger,” Te’o said. “The best thing about this is it creates fire, it creates fuel, for both the guys staying here and the guys leaving.”Talking about his experience at Notre Dame, Te’o says in the same article, “But I wouldn’t trade this team for anything. I wouldn’t do anything differently. Obviously, we wish that the night could have ended in a different way. But the season, the year, my career here, I’ve been truly blessed to be at Notre Dame. I’ll forever be proud to say that I’m a Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Regardless of what happened (Monday night), I’m proud of my team.”Along with Te’o there are two other Laie-grown football boys on the team. Robby Toma, who went to high school at Punahou, and Kona Schwenke, who graduated from Kahuku, played alongside with Te’o in the 2012 season. “We are equally proud of them and their contributions to a successful season at Notre Dame,” Mo’o said.
Writer: Dylan Sage-Wilcox~Multimedia Journalist
