Arizona Cardinals Reagan Maui’a claims to have met Manti Te’o’s “Catfish” girlfriend, Lennay Kekua in 2011

This Manti Te’o story continues to get crazier. Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Mauia is claiming he met Lennay Kekua, the fake dead girlfriend that doesn’t exist. Maui’a claims he met her in 2011. Here’s the story.

“This was before her and Manti,” Mauia said Wednesday evening, via ESPN.com.  “I don’t think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends.  We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing.  I am close to her family.  When she was going through the loss of her father, I was — I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off.  That was just from meeting her in Samoa.”

Maui’a says he was introduced to Kekua by  Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man and family friend of Te’o who allegedly had a role in creating Kekua. Keep in mind, the photos do belong to a woman who is real and MAY know Tuiasosopo.  Maui’a believes Kekua’s mother operates her Twitter account, and Mauia disagreed with the suggestion that Kekua doesn’t exist.

THIS is a mess. Lot’s of questions and then a few more to add to the mix when people step forward and put their credibility on the line. How much of this boils down to the seduction of attention?