Most people who hear the name Manti Te’o think of one thing first. Not his tackles. Not his leadership at Notre Dame. They think of a scandal that wasn’t even his fault. That’s a heavy thing to carry into a career, and it’s part of why his financial story looks the way it does today.
But there’s a lot more to his story than that one headline from 2013. Let’s walk through how he actually built his wealth, what that scandal really cost him, and where his life stands now.
Quick Facts Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Manti Malietau Louis Te’o |
| Profession | Former NFL linebacker, current sports broadcaster |
| College | University of Notre Dame |
| NFL Draft | 2013, second round, 38th overall, San Diego Chargers |
| NFL Teams | San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears |
| NFL Career Span | 2013 to 2021 |
| Career NFL Earnings | Around $10.4 million before taxes |
| Manti Te’o Net Worth | Around $3.5 million |
| Wife | Jovi Nicole Te’o (née Engbino) |
| Married | August 29, 2020, in La Jolla, California |
| Children | Daughter Hiromi “Hiro,” son Kyro Aumua |
| Current Role | NFL broadcaster, joined Good Morning Football in May 2025 |
| Known Scandal | Victim of a 2012 catfishing hoax, later covered in Netflix’s “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist” |
A College Career Built on Real Talent
Before any of the headlines about a fake girlfriend, Manti Te’o was simply one of the best defensive players college football had seen in years. He played for Notre Dame starting in 2009 and spent four years there building a reputation as a fierce, smart linebacker.
By 2012, Te’o had helped guide the Fighting Irish to the BCS National Championship Game, cementing his place among the top players in college football. That same season, he earned a spot as a Heisman Trophy finalist, a distinction rarely awarded to defensive players since the honor is typically dominated by quarterbacks and running backs.
He racked up plenty of college awards along the way too, the kind of resume that usually translates directly into a strong NFL draft position and a lucrative rookie contract.
The Scandal That Changed Everything
In 2012, Te’o publicly shared a heartbreaking story. He said he’d lost both his grandmother and his girlfriend on the same day, a tragedy that made him a sympathetic, inspiring figure across the sports world.
Then, in January 2013, the website Deadspin revealed something shocking. His girlfriend, a woman named Lennay Kekua, had never actually existed. The whole relationship had been an elaborate hoax, created and carried out by a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who today is a transgender woman known as Naya Tuiasosopo.
Te’o hadn’t invented the story himself. He’d been deceived, completely and painfully, by someone pretending to be in a real relationship with him. But the internet didn’t always see it that way at the time, and the fallout hit him hard, right as he was preparing for the NFL draft.
How the Scandal Hit His Wallet Directly
Here’s where this story stops being just a sad personal tale and becomes a real financial one. Before the scandal broke, Te’o was projected as a likely first-round NFL draft pick.
After the story went public, his draft stock dropped. He ended up getting selected in the second round instead, 38th overall, by the San Diego Chargers. That drop wasn’t just embarrassing. It cost him real money, since first-round contracts pay significantly more than second-round ones in the NFL’s rookie wage scale.
On top of that, his pre-draft workout numbers, especially his 40-yard dash time, disappointed scouts and recruiters, adding even more pressure on top of an already difficult situation heading into draft day.
Signing His First NFL Contract
Despite the rough lead-up, Te’o still signed a solid rookie deal. His contract with the Chargers was a four-year deal worth right around $5 million, with reports putting the guaranteed portion at just over $3 million, plus a signing bonus of roughly $2 million.
That’s still a meaningful payday for a 22-year-old, even if it was smaller than what he might have earned with a first-round selection. Unfortunately, his rookie season got complicated fast. He injured his foot during the preseason opener, which kept him out of a significant chunk of games early in his career.
A Seven-Season NFL Journey
Te’o ended up playing in the NFL from 2013 through 2021, spanning seven total seasons. Over that stretch, he suited up for three different teams: the Chargers, who moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2016, the New Orleans Saints, and the Chicago Bears.
His highest-paid season came in 2018 with the Saints, when he earned $1.7 million for that year alone. Across his entire NFL career, his total career earnings settled right around $10.4 million before taxes and other deductions, with his average yearly salary working out to roughly $1.31 million.
Across the contracts he signed during his NFL career, the guaranteed portion of his earnings totaled an estimated $3.79 million. While that is a substantial amount by most standards, it was lower than many people might expect for a player who entered the league with such a high profile. Much of that can be traced back to where he was selected in the draft, a factor that continued to influence his earning potential for years.
Life After Football
Te’o’s contract with the Bears expired in 2021, and his playing career wound down from there. He officially announced his retirement from the NFL in 2023.
That same general period brought him back into the public conversation in a completely different way. In August 2022, Netflix released a documentary called Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist. For the first time, Te’o got to tell his own side of the catfishing story directly, on his own terms, a decade after the scandal first broke.
A New Career in Broadcasting
After stepping away from professional football, Te’o shifted into sports media. He took on roles as a football analyst, using broadcasting opportunities to remain involved with the sport and share his insight from the other side of the game.
In May 2025, he officially joined NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, stepping into the role after Akbar Gbajabiamila departed the show. That’s a meaningful platform, regular national television exposure, and it represents a real second act for someone whose football career ended a few years earlier than he might have hoped.
Building Wealth Beyond Football
Te’o hasn’t relied purely on his NFL salary and broadcasting paychecks. Reports indicate he’s invested in a handful of tech startups over the years, including a ride-sharing app, a food delivery company called GrubMarket, a virtual reality company named Jaunt, and a mobile gaming platform.
That kind of diversified investing is smart for any athlete whose playing career, by nature, only lasts so many years. Spreading money across different ventures gives a much better shot at long-term financial stability once the paychecks from an NFL roster spot stop coming in.
So What Is Manti Te’o Net Worth, Exactly?
Multiple credible sources, including Celebrity Net Worth and reporting that draws on Harper’s Bazaar Australia, consistently land on the same figure: an estimated net worth of around $3.5 million.
That number reflects retained wealth, not total career earnings. Big difference there. He earned roughly $10.4 million in NFL salary over his career, but after taxes, agent fees, living expenses, and the natural costs of building a life and a family, that number naturally shrinks down to a smaller retained total.
It’s worth being upfront that, like most celebrity net worth figures, this is an informed estimate rather than a confirmed, audited number. Manti Te’o hasn’t publicly released a personal financial statement, so outlets build these estimates based on known salary data, contract terms, and reported investment activity.
Meeting Jovi Nicole
Somewhere in the years following the scandal, Te’o found real happiness again. He started dating Jovi Nicole Engbino, with the two of them first appearing publicly together on social media around 2016, a few years removed from the hardest chapter of his public life.
Jovi Nicole has built her own career path too. She studied business administration at Arizona State University before later pursuing nursing, graduating from an accelerated program at Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences in Draper, Utah, in January 2023. She’s worked as an esthetician and cosmetic injector, and has also worked in sales support roles.
Getting Engaged and Married
In February 2020, Te’o proposed to Jovi Nicole. The two of them got married later that same year, on August 29, 2020, in La Jolla, California.
That timing matters in a quiet but meaningful way. After everything Te’o had been through publicly, the betrayal, the internet mockery, the years of having to explain a story that wasn’t even his fault, building a real marriage with someone he’d chosen and who’d chosen him back must have felt like its own kind of victory.
Becoming a Father
Te’o and Jovi Nicole welcomed their first child, a daughter named Hiromi, nicknamed “Hiro,” with her birth most consistently reported as August 12, 2021, though a few sources tie the announcement closer to 2020 itself.
The couple welcomed their second child, a son named Kyro Aumua Te’o, on January 16, 2023, just two days after Jovi Nicole celebrated her birthday. Te’o has never been shy about expressing how much fatherhood means to him, often sharing heartfelt messages online. In one touching post about his daughter, he wrote that simply looking at her gave him the feeling of being home.
A Father First, Even Through Fame
Te’o has spoken about wanting to be present for his kids above almost everything else. He’s talked about wanting to be their biggest supporter, and said clearly that being there for them in person matters more to him than any career milestone.
That kind of priority shift, from chasing draft stock and NFL contracts to prioritizing time with his children, says a lot about where Te’o’s head is at now, years removed from both his football career and the scandal that once defined how the public saw him.
Why His Story Still Resonates
Manti Te’o’s financial journey isn’t really a story about getting rich in professional sports. It’s a story about resilience, about a guy who got knocked down hard, publicly and unfairly, right at the worst possible moment in his career, and still managed to build a stable, respectable life afterward.
He didn’t become one of the NFL’s biggest earners. But he built a seven-year career, found a second act in broadcasting, diversified his investments, and built a family that seems to genuinely ground him. That’s its own kind of success, even if the number attached to it isn’t as flashy as some of his peers.
Final Words
Manti Te’o Net Worth sits at an estimated $3.5 million today, built from a seven-season NFL career worth $10.4 million before taxes, a handful of smart tech investments, and a growing career in sports broadcasting. None of that erases what the catfishing scandal cost him financially and personally back in 2013.
But what stands out most about his story isn’t the dollar figure. It’s the fact that he kept building, through public embarrassment, through a lower draft slot, through career setbacks, all the way to a stable family life and a respected second career in front of the camera.
Also Read: Jennifer Tilly Net Worth
FAQ Section
1. What is Manti Te’o Net Worth?
Manti Te’o Net Worth is around $3.5 million.
2. How much did Manti Te’o earn during his NFL career?
He earned approximately $10.4 million in total salary across his seven-season NFL career.
3. Which NFL teams did Manti Te’o play for?
He played for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, New Orleans Saints, and Chicago Bears.
4. Why did Manti Te’o fall in the 2013 NFL Draft?
His draft stock dropped significantly after the catfishing scandal became public, alongside disappointing pre-draft workout numbers.
5. What was the catfishing scandal involving Manti Te’o?
He was deceived into believing he had an online girlfriend who turned out to be a hoax created by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
6. Is there a documentary about Manti Te’o’s catfishing scandal?
Yes, Netflix released “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist” in August 2022.
7. When did Manti Te’o retire from the NFL?
He officially announced his retirement in 2023.
8. What does Manti Te’o do now?
He works as a sports broadcaster and joined NFL Network’s Good Morning Football in May 2025.
9. Who is Manti Te’o’s wife?
He’s married to Jovi Nicole Te’o, née Engbino, a nurse and esthetician.
10. When did Manti Te’o get married?
He married Jovi Nicole on August 29, 2020, in La Jolla, California.