In a Sept. 15, 2012, story about Notre Dame's college football victory over Michigan State that highlighted linebacker Manti Te'o's performance, The Associated Press erroneously reported that he played in the game a few days after the death of his girlfriend, who had a long battle with leukemia. Other AP stories through Jan. 3, 2013, also contained references to the girlfriend's death, including some directly quoting Te'o and his father, Brian Te'o, about how he played through personal grief. On Jan. 16, Notre Dame officials and Manti Te'o said there was never a girlfriend or a death, and that Te'o was victimized in a hoax. Others have since come forward to say Te'o was duped in a series of phone calls and online messages purporting to be from a girl he never met in person.