Memories matter more to Manti Te'o than material things.

The Irish linebacker said Monday the chance to spend more time with his teammates and walk out of the tunnel on Senior Day helped him decide to return for one more year at Notre Dame. When he gets to the end of his life, Te'o said, he'll remember the time he spent with his friends, not the cars and homes he could buy with a multimillion-dollar NFL contract.

Te'o, a finalist for the Butkus Award given to the nation's best linebacker, was expected to be a high pick in the NFL draft. But he didn't even bother waiting for his evaluation before announcing last weekend he was coming back to Notre Dame.