It was a heart-wrenching story that softened even the toughest of sportscasters and made many a fan shed tears on the sidelines, but college football star Manti Te'o's inspirational story of love and loss has been revealed as a hoax and he has now admitted that he never even met his "girlfriend" in person!

The Notre Dame linebacker won the attention of the nation with the revelation that his girlfriend, Lennay Marie Kekua, had been involved in a serious car accident in California, and then she tragically died after being diagnosed with leukemia. He said her heartbreaking death came just days after the death of his grandmother last September.

The double devastation for the college football star was cited as the inspiration for a 20-3 win by the Fighting Irish over rivals Michigan State on Sep. 15, 2012, and sparked an emotional interview with Te'o on ESPN's College GameDay to talk about the letters Kekua had written him during her illness and her heartbreaking funeral.

"All she wanted was some white roses. So I sent her roses and sent her two picks along with that," he then revealed about his girlfriend, whom he said went to Stanford University.

Now, according to Deadspin.com, it has been revealed that the story is the biggest piece of sports fiction since Field Of Dreams – and his sweetheart not only didn't die – but she may not even exist!

The humiliated Heisman Trophy hopeful admitted in his own statement that he had been duped, "This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time,