Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o (5) celebrates after Notre Dame defeated the Navy Midshipmen 50-10 at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A story that Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o's girlfriend had died of leukemia - a loss he said inspired him to help lead the Irish to the BCS championship game - was dismissed by the university Wednesday as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says his faith has not been shaken in Te'o "one iota."
Swarbrick says an investigation by a firm the school hired has convinced him that Te'o was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose death was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax.
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