Te’o and Toma Brought a Friendship to Notre Dame
By TIM ROHAN
“All right,” Manti Te’o said to Robby Toma, before announcing to the world that he would play linebacker at Notre Dame, “this is where we go our separate ways.”
Te’o and Toma had been best friends since kindergarten. They lived down the street from each other in Laie, Hawaii, and had practiced their ninja warrior moves in Toma’s backyard. It was Uncle Brian, as Toma called Te’o’s father, who had prodded the smallish Toma to play football. It was Auntie Tammy, as Te’o called Toma’s mother, who had driven the boys to school, a two-hour round trip.
“That’s my twin,” Te’o, a 6-foot-2, 255-pound hulk, said of Toma, a 5-foot-9, 185-pound wide receiver. Without Te’o, now a Heisman Trophy contender in his senior year, Toma would not be playing college football. Without Te’o, Toma would not have intended to commit to U.C.L.A. after his friend said goodbye. Without Te’o, Toma would not now be a member of the Fighting Irish.
All their lives, as Toma’s father, Ross, said, “Manti was the standard that Robby had to attain.”
It was that way when the boys were 9, when Te’o’s father dragged him out of the house to work out, and Te’o bugged Toma to come along. For two hours a day after football practice, Te’o did 200 push-ups, 200 situps, wind sprints, agility drills and more, to the sound of his father barking instructions. About half the time, Toma trained by Te’o’s side.
“He was really small,” Brian Te’o said of Toma. “His parents were a bit reluctant to send him with Uncle Brian.”
He added, though, “Manti realized this was someone willing to go through thick and thin with him.”
Te’o’s father gave Toma the nickname Otter, because he was a slippery player — only 5 feet and 100 pounds entering high school — and his buzzed hair looked like otter’s fur. Te’o, meanwhile, was built like an ox and ran like a horse, and his reputation spread around Hawaii.
But at Punahou School, where Te’o would transfer his sophomore year, Toma was considered “tiny and slow,” at first, said the coach, Kale Ane.
“And I want to say lazy, but that’s not fair,” Ane said. “I think he didn’t work as hard as he did later on. He was very average — that’s probably generous.”
That year, their workouts intensified. They now worked six days a week, and Toma came every day. They lifted weights and ended with runs of three and a half to five miles — from Te’o’s house to the ocean and back was one mile.
“There was a lot of pressure on them — especially on Manti — to be great, to live up to the hype,” Ane said. “And Robby wanted to get in the conversation.
“He had to keep up.”
Then the floodgates opened. Recruiting letters for Te’o filled Ane’s drawers. College coaches flocked to Punahou. Te’o told them to watch out for Robby Toma, too. By his junior year, Toma stood 5-foot-6, weighed 165 pounds, ran faster, moved quicker and gained Ane’s trust.
Notre Dame was intrigued. On one of his 12 visits to Hawaii to recruit Te’o, Brian Polian, then Notre Dame’s West Coast recruiter, was impressed by Toma’s highlight tape. In January of their senior year, as Toma reconsidered his verbal commitment to U.C.L.A., Notre Dame offered him a scholarship.
Of what role Notre Dame’s pursuit of Te’o may have played in its recruitment of his best friend, Polian said, “that might help his comfort level and get him over the hump. I mean, we’re not naïve.” He added that the perception that Te’o and Toma were a package deal, “was disrespectful to Robby.”
But on national signing day, Te’o said goodbye. Toma wasn’t so sure.
The day before, when Te’o had told U.C.L.A. he was not going there — even though his good friend was — the Bruins coaches repeatedly called Toma, he said, to ask him to persuade Te’o to reconsider. He was offended, and it took some convincing for U.C.L.A. to reassure Toma he was still wanted, even without Te’o.
When Te’o announced his decision to go to Notre Dame, Toma was ready to sign his letter of intent to attend U.C.L.A.
Then the fax machine broke, giving Toma time to think. He called Charlie Weis, then Notre Dame’s coach, and said, because they already had Te’o, “I want to know if you want me for me.”
Toma said Weis likened him to New England’s Wes Welker, and four days later Toma signed with Notre Dame. Te’o was overjoyed. Now as seniors, Te’o and Toma are roommates. Te’o, whose grandmother and girlfriend died on the same day last month, and who is dealing with the pressure of his heightening stardom, called Toma his “refuge.”
And, as Toma has fought for playing time — he has 12 catches in four starts this season, and is at times frustrated with his lack of opportunities — Te’o has kept him focused.
“Once we get him the ball more here,” Te’o said, “you’ll see.”
