With the pressing issue of the stimulus plan and the overall economy, there was another topic of serious discussion Monday on Air Force One.

NewsCenter 16 has learned that the President wanted to know about the reaction of Irish football fans to the signing of Manti Te'o.

When told it was positive, the president, who attended the same high school in Hawaii as Te'o, assured the Indiana congressional contingent plus former congressmen Lee Hamilton and Tim Roemer that Te'o would star for the Irish.

We've learned that the president knew the entire stats package on Te'o in addition to the recruiting details on how the fellow Punahou graduate came to pick the Irish.