One in October by Indiana's South Bend Tribune, the newspaper of Notre Dame's hometown, said the couple met at a football game in Palo Alto, California, in 2009.

CNN: Manti Te'o denies he was part of girlfriend hoax

"They started out as just friends, " Brian Te'o, Mr. Te'o's father, said of his son and the supposed Lennay Kekua, in a South Bend Tribune article in October.

WSJ: Notre Dame's Manti Te'o Finds Inspiration Wasn't Real

Te'o's father was quoted in an October article in the South Bend Tribune, saying his son and Kekua had met at a football game in Palo Alto, California, and exchanged numbers.

CNN: Te'o to Couric: My emotions were real