LAIE, Hawaii (AP) -- People in the small Hawaii hometown of Manti Te'o are offering support for the Notre Dame linebacker, after the story of his girlfriend and her death from leukemia were revealed as a hoax.




'I just don't see something like that being made up from him or having any part of that because they're not those kind of people,' she said while sitting and talking with friends a few doors down from the Te'o family home. 'Everybody's kind of like `what is going on?''




Students at Haaula often wear Notre Dame jerseys with his number '5' on them, and Te'o has returned to the area to talk to students about the importance of staying in school, said school administrator Makala Paakaula, 38.

'He always keeps giving back to his community,' Paakaula said.


'It's amazing how he brought together the whole school to become one ohana, one family, where they all belonged, where they all had a purpose,' Paakaula said.

Many people expressed anger toward whoever was behind the entire affair.

'If he got hoaxed, that's not his fault -- shame on them,' Paakaula said, 'because he has a very trusting, open heart.'

AP-WF-01-17-13 1553GMT

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