As soon as San Diegans heard the news – that the San Diego Chargers had selected linebacker Manti Te’o in the second round of the NFL draft – the jokes began.
NBC 7 caught up with Chargers season ticket holder Chris Catano who went right after the Notre Dame alum who made national headlines just a few months ago for his role in an elaborate hoax involving a fake girlfriend.
“Don't know if he's real,” Catano said from a popular bar in Pacific Beach. “I'm here with his girlfriend right now, so things are pretty good for me actually, but Chargers I don't know.”
Many San Diegans only know the Manti Te’o for the Internet hoax involving a girlfriend who didn't actually exist.
“I actually felt really bad for the guy,” Chargers fan Dina Houser said. “ I don't know if that was the female instinct in me.”
Then there were those fans who said they saw this coming, already drawing comparisons between Te’o and the legendary linebacker Junior Seau.
“I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the Hawaiian thing with Junior Seau, maybe that. But I was like, he's going to go to San Diego,” Houser said.
Lars Johnson was visiting San Diego for a mock draft party. He had this analysis:
“You're getting a steal at Manti in the second round, which is great for you guys. But it's also Manti Te’o who, let's be honest, kind of has some issues.”
[View the story "Manti Te'o Drafted by San Diego Chargers" on Storify]