It's hard to imagine any facts that save face for Teo here.
All outcomes are pretty big hits for his public image. The leading theories so far:1. He perpetrated a hoax to 'raise his Heisman profile'
2. He perpetrated a hoax to cover up his homosexuality
3. A hoax was perpetrated upon him by someone with wanted to embarass him.
I think the motivation behind #2 & #3 make more sense (he wasn't a Heisman candidate in September and there was no indication he would be), while the facts (so far) slightly favor #1 or #2 (seemingly contradictory statements. Did he meet her in person, did he not?). I don't have access to the information, so I'm going to wait it out.
Many of the tweets are funny and I can appreciate them, but as for which of the three is the truth, I'm going to wait to find out if Te'o is being Catfished, Te'o is Birdcaging or Te'o is Jonny Fairplaying this.
I don't think that's an outrageous position.