My working theory:
There has never been an active player in major college sports (All-American level football, basketball) or professional athlete (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) who has been openly gay. As a gay man myself, I have long hoped that an All-Star caliber player with a big fan base will be the first to come out during his playing career. If I were Te'o I would not want to be that trailblazer for several reasons and don't want him to be forced to come out; the first athlete should come out on his own terms.
I tend to think Lennay's "death" was Te'o breaking up with Ronaiah. I think that Ronaiah was devastated by the breakup and threatened to blackmail Te'o if he didn't do certain things such as publicly acknowledge his "girlfriends" death at the Michigan game and likely a number of other things we haven't yet heard about.
When Deadspin published their factual, non-speculative article ND public relations and Te'o's agent went into crisis mode. In the coming days Matthew Hiltzik would be hired as he is the best crisis communications/positive spin guy in the country. Te'o's team and Ronaiah likely negotiated a deal where Ronaiah would confess to everything and Te'o would not lash out against Ronaiah in the media. Ronaiah likely signed a very solid confidentiality agreement in exchange for compensation.
Te'o appears on Katie Couric's show (Why Katie? Hiltzik also represents her) and Te'o's story of being the victim is showcased to the American public. The story fades into the background.
Why am I so confident that this scenario is true? Simple: Te'o's answer to the question of why he didn't ever visit Lennay in the hospital; "it never occurred to me." That answer is the most revealing thing Te'o has said and in my opinion is very telling.