Manti Te'o -- I Was Duped ... and I'm Humiliated

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o has released a statement about his not-really-dead girlfriend hoax -- claiming he's a victim who fell for someone's "sick joke" ... and he's really embarrassed.

Back in September, Te'o told multiple media outlets that his girlfriend Lennay Kekua had died after a bout with cancer ... hours after his grandmother passed away.

But earlier today, it was revealed Lennay never really existed -- which means she never really died -- and the whole story was a farce. Question is ... was Manti in on the hoax?

According to Manti ... the answer is no. The football star reportedly released the following statement to the media:

"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.

To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating.

It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life.

I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been.

In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was.

Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."

Source: http://www.hollywoodnewslinks.com/manti-teo-i-was-duped-and-im-humiliated/