Manti Te'o

How does Manti compare with Joe and other UND greats?

Compared to Notre Dame Football greats like Joe Montana, Tim Brown, and Ross Browner where do you think Manti ranks? This article from Matt Rybaltowski of CBSSports.com states: If Te’o leads Notre Dame to a win over Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game he might be considered the best player in school history.

CBSSports.com – How does Manti Te’o compare with other Notre Dame legends?

Manti Te'o - What NFL Team will draft him? (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The prediction from this recent mock 2013 NFL Draft from the Bleacher Report  is that Manti will be drafted by the Detroit Lions (as the #8 pick overall).  Where do you think Manti will go?  What team could most benefit from having Manti?

Manti poses with Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, left, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after winning the Lott IMPACT Trophy as the collegiate defensive player having the biggest impact on his team. (AP Photo/Allen Bradley Photography, Allen Bradley)

Manti Te’o won his record seventh major award on Sunday night – the Lott IMPACT Trophy!  If you remember, Manti was one of last year’s finalists and it was at the Lott ceremony last year that he announced he would be returning to Notre Dame for the 2012 season.  The Lott is awarded annually to the collegiate defensive player who has had the most impact on his team.

As a bonus of Manti winning the award, Notre Dame will receive $25,000 for its general scholarship fund.

See the Lott Impact Trophy official website or the UND press release about Te’o's Lott Trophy win for more info.

Oregon Quarterback Marcus Mariota ( Source: Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images North America)

We came across these words on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser‘s website today, with the headline ‘Te’o hopes to pass torch to Oregon’s Mariota‘: Manti Te’o's run at the Heisman Trophy wasn’t just about tackles, interceptions and awards, he wants you to know. No, Te’o says, it was also about opening minds and eyes. And, above all, expanding horizons.

The gist of the story is that Manti sees Oregon’s star freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota as his successor in being the soon-to-be best college football player from Hawaii (of course, after Manti’s Notre Dame days are over).  With that honor comes great responsibility, in terms of spreading the aloha spirit and showing the rest of the nation that players from Hawaii can compete with the best!

The complete article is here.  However, login to the star-advertiser site is required.  (Boo!)

'Johnny Football' poses with the Heisman Trophy (Kelly Kline/USA TODAY Sportsclose)

It is with a heavy heart that we concede defeat to Texas A&M’s Freshman wunderkind Johnny Manziel.  In the end, Heisman voters chose the first ever freshman winner over Manti, who could have been the first ever purely defensive player to win the award.

As diehard Manti fans, we are of course disappointed in the results of this year’s Heisman voting, but have all of the respect in the world for ‘Johnny Football’.  Manziel has had an exceptional season and we wish him every continued success.

Manti, if you’re reading this, you are a winner in every sense of the word; you have nothing to be ashamed of!

ESPN.com Article with award video: Manziel grows into the Heisman

Manti Te'o poses with the Maxwell and Bednarik awards. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Manti has won six of college football’s most prestigious awards including:

1. The Butkus Award
2. Bronko Nagurski Award
3. Lombardi Award
4. Walter Camp Player of the Year Award
5. Bednarik Award
6. Maxwell Award

The big question now is whether he will overcome Collin Klein and Johnny Manziel to win college football’s most coveted award – the Heisman Trophy.  We are hopeful and optimistic that he will win!  What do you think?  Lucky number seven??

Manti Te'o Autographed Mini Helmet - currently $149.99 on Amazon

With the huge success of the Notre Dame football team this season and Manti’s individual success, there’s been a large demand for Manti Te’o and other Notre Dame merchandise.  We’ve compiled what we think are the best places to buy Manti stuff online.

For Manti Te’o jerseys, we recommend football fanatics.  (Please see our Manti Te’o jerseys post for our complete recommendations and links to other places to get Manti jerseys).  We did a quick search and found all sorts of other great Manti Te’o merchandise on Amazon.com — including autographed footballs, helmets and more.

If this video doesn’t make you a fan of Manti Te’o … you were not watching! From CSNChicago.com – “Manti Te’o: Mature beyond his years”

Manti Te'o for Heisman!

We apologize to Manti T’eo‘s fans as we have not been able to update the site recently as much as we would like.   However, I think we speak for Manti fans across the country when we state that he should win the Heisman Trophy this year!  Bleacher report just published an article listing Manti and Colin Klein as the two front-runners this year:

Collin Klein and Manti Te’o have pulled away in what has been a volatile race for the Heisman. Both have been dominating this season, and both directly impacted victories for their teams this week.

Geno Smith was the front-runner. However, his past two games have shown that while he is a supremely talented quarterback and a great pro prospect, he isn’t the Heisman Trophy winner this season.

See full Bleacher Report article here

This is the question that Matt Smith over at the Bleacher Report poses.  ”As Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o prepares for his final season under the Golden Dome, it’s appropriate to assess his place…” What do you think?

Check out the detailed article here.