Each day that passes takes Manti Te'o further from the "Catfish" scandal.
This is a good thing for the San Diego Chargers' rookie linebacker. Frankly, it's a good thing for all of us.
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Still, Te'o's sordid past makes him an obvious target for veteran ribbing in his first season in the NFL. NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano asked Te'o if he faced the wrath of teammates during organized team activities or minicamp.
"No, lucky for me I'm surrounded by guys in San Diego who really care about football and really care about winning, and they really care about people," said Te'o, who's in Aurora, Ohio, for this week's NFL Rookie Symposium. "And for me as a rookie, I just keep my head down and keep working and keep my head in the playbook, so I don't give them a reason to yell at me or give them a reason to not like me.
"For me, I'm just keeping my head down, do my responsibilities and make sure that I'm working to be the best linebacker I can be."
Unless the Chargers have assembled a locker room of Mother Teresas, Te'o is going to take some "Catfish" heat. It's a given. Once Te'o gets past that stage, he finally might have the entire saga in his rearview mirror.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
