Manti Te'o, catfishing hoax: Arizona Cardinals' Reagan Maui'a claims to have met fake girlfriend

PHOENIX - An Arizona Cardinals player reportedly claimed to have met Notre Dame star Manti Te'o's girlfriend after a report came out that she didn't even exist, according to a Thursday report .

Deadspin.com reported that Cardinals fullback Reagan Maui'a claims to have become good friends with fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua before Te'o was ever involved.

A Wednesday story sparked outrage after Deadspin reported that Te'o's "dead" girlfriend didn't die and actually never existed.

Te'o's girlfriend first made national headlines in September when Te'o claimed to have lost his grandmother and girlfriend on the same day. He then went on to win a football game against Michigan State.

After that, he and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had a successful season and eventually went to the BCS National Championship.

Through all of it, Te'o reportedly said in interviews that he missed his girlfriend, "the love of his life."

According to the new report Thursday, the Cardinals' Maui'a said he met Kekua in Samoa after Kekua's cousin introduced them. He added that she was "beautiful…she looked like a model."

Maui'a even reportedly insisted that Kekua is real, despite a reporter telling him she is not.

According to the report, he said that he and Kekua stayed in touch for a while and that he reportedly helped her cope with the loss of her father.

Deadspin reported that someone close to Ronaiah Tuisosopo, the man suspected of being behind the entire "catfishing" hoax, said that he created Kekua in 2008, and hinted that Te'o wasn't the first person to have an online relationship with her.

Read more at Deadspin.com .