The figure alone is enough to make anyone stop scrolling: $1.3 million. But the story behind that number is even more unbelievable. A man named Daejon Love allegedly masqueraded as a San Francisco 49ers player while duping multiple women, and when Bengals legend Chad Johnson weighed in, he seemed genuinely stunned by the scale of this deception.
“He’s committed, you know,” Johnson said on the Nightcap Podcast. “It just I haven’t. I’ve never really seen a male finesse like this. I’ve seen women that finesse, you know… I’ve seen women finesse men all the time. You know, they got their own little game. They got their own little spill that they run. Hey, sometimes they play a short-term game, sometimes they play the long game. They finesse too now. But this is another level. This is different.”
Daejon Love (35) and his accomplice, Taylor Jamie Chan (18), ran a four-year investment scam across California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. According to reports, both of them defrauded at least 26 women out of over $1.3 million, posing as a professional NFL wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and a wealthy real estate developer.
But on August 24, 2026, Love and Chan were arrested by the FBI at the Boise Airport in Idaho. Notably, they already had an arrest warrant issued (on August 17) in their name by a federal judge in Oregon.
Amid that, Love allegedly went on a multi-state tour, traveling through New Mexico, California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, actively seeking new victims to defraud.
However, on August 24, Chan flew from California to Idaho to meet up with Love. That’s when federal agents, who were tracking their coordinates, ambushed and arrested both individuals simultaneously.
Chad Johnson was particularly shocked by the way they allegedly operated.
The standard modus operandi started with Daejon Love meeting victims on dating apps like Tinder and Bumble as an NFL player. According to reports, Love spent over $1,160 on a custom replica football helmet from a professional sports gear vendor. On a first date, Love routinely showed up wearing an official jersey with the specialized helmet sitting in his car seat.
On top of that, Love also created fake internet profiles that tricked Google’s AI Overviews into listing him as an NFL player. Meanwhile, his accomplice, Taylor Jamie Chan, posed as Love’s professional financial advisor, backed up his pitches and created fake online investment portals.
“Love advertised nonexistent investment vehicles and claimed these investments would generate massive returns for both him and his victims,” the official press release stated following their arrest. “Love also used phone applications to create fictitious bank and investment accounts and balances which Love showed victims to legitimize the scheme.”
Chad Johnson sarcastically mocked the way Daejon Love orchestrated such an alleged scam to earn a million dollars. But as things stand, both Love and Chan are currently in federal custody awaiting trials for their alleged crimes.