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In tomorrow's ep. of the @Rotoworld_FB podcast, @KP_Show shares some strong words on Manti Te'o's #Chargers future pic.twitter.com/bPvZZXv3kg
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) June 7, 2016
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The Chargers LBs in 1 play, but really how they played all szn. pic.twitter.com/kttw1dYTPo
— KP (@KP_Show) May 16, 2016
@A_Fro_Among_Few pic.twitter.com/H4BOHTsFt2
— KP (@KP_Show) May 18, 2016
@A_Fro_Among_Few pic.twitter.com/AANEQGuciO
— KP (@KP_Show) May 18, 2016
Manti Te'o had a rough day at the office on Sunday. Duke Johnson had him picking up his jock strap multiple times pic.twitter.com/brHdEMPCGh
— Steve Frederick (@SportsGuyTweets) October 7, 2015
I don't think that's how you're supposed to tackle... https://t.co/cNANXvMX25
— Jupjamie (@jupjamie) February 18, 2016
@darmstrong17 @NickNRickShep I mean, Te'o routinely struggles at one thing, tackling, that's like... 33-50% of his job. Woof.
— Lee Bedrouni (@A_Fro_Among_Few) November 5, 2015
Te’o 4th worst RT @PFF: Looking at the most efficient tacklers at Inside Linebacker for their teams in 2013 pic.twitter.com/rMRrls0Tzf
— KP (@KP_Show) April 21, 2014
#GoodbyeManti pic.twitter.com/OlXIQnYszA
— Lee Bedrouni (@A_Fro_Among_Few) March 21, 2017
Wow, Teo's tackle whiff on the MIA TD to Clay was amazing. Don't think Teo even touched him. #FOAud
— Kevin Bell (@dingerc) November 17, 2013
Manti Whiff Teo, Come On Man stop looking you did in the National Championship game against Bama.#Chargers #MNF #Colts
— Mr. Atkins (@MrAtkinss) October 15, 2013
Adios, Manti Te’o.
The former 2nd round pick out of Notre Dame has signed a two-year contract with the New Orleans Saints this morning.
Thank God.
Often embattled, whether it be due to the copious number of injuries he suffered, or due to his inconsistent-if-not-borderline awful level of play (aka “he would have been a star if every week was Week 1”) or just surface level blandness, Te’o was either beloved by the Chargers fanbase (likely those eager to stuff him into a “Junior Seau”-sized narrative coffin because their last names rhyme and because they’re both ethnically similar, though Manti Te’o is Hawaiian and Junior was Samoan) or reviled for just being not good.
Manti Te’o joins the litany of draft picks made by the John Spanos/Tom Telesco “brain trust” that have yet to pan out for the Chargers for all kinds of reasons. Te’o’s inability to turn into a star (no matter how may ham-fisted “accolades” like Team Captain-ship were force fed to him publicly) is compounded by the fact that the team traded away a 4th round pick in 2013 to move up into the 2nd round and take him (effectively resetting his draft stock/value to the “late 1st round pick” level).
That Te’o has been replaced by a 5th round pick (Jatavis Brown), a UDFA (Korey Toomer) and hopefully a 4th round pick (Josh Perry) should not be lost on fans, and especially not on the front office personnel who made that deal in the first place.