Bears to talk to Notre Dame's Manti Te'o

CHICAGO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The Chicago Bears general manager said the team would meet with Notre Dame middle linebacker Manti Te'o, the much-publicized victim of a fake-girlfriend hoax.

Phil Emery said that starting Friday, teams were allowed to meet with linebackers at the NFL Scouting Combine and the Bears would get together with Te'o, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Te'o, a Notre Dame senior, was the victim of an online hoax in which he was lured into believing a non-existent woman was his girlfriend.

"Every individual is unique," Emery said. "Believe me, there are unique stories across every college class. ... That is a situation and issue that has to be dealt with and worked through. Obviously, at some point, we will sit down and talk to the player about it and see where he's at on it ... .

"Everyone, each individual is going to be unique, and they're going to have their own unique situations with their family that they have had to deal with, off the field, on the field and situations that come up in life. It's about how they handle it. Can they still produce and be a productive member of your team?"