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Netflix orders 'Untold: Wide Deceiver' documentary on alleged fake 49ers player Daejon Love
Netflix confirmed its Untold series will tell the story of Daejon Love, accused of posing as a 49ers player to deceive women before his wire fraud arrest.
Netflix is making a documentary about Daejon Love, the viral social media figure accused of passing himself off as a San Francisco 49ers player to win over women. The streaming service confirmed Wednesday that his story will become a new installment of its "Untold" sports documentary series.
The film is titled "Untold: Wide Deceiver." Netflix says it will trace how the alleged scheme grew, told through people who say they were hurt by it. Beyond the memes that spread across the NFL, the project promises a much darker picture of what was going on behind the jokes.
A fake roster spot that fooled the internet
Love is accused of deceiving more than a dozen women with an invented life. Among the false claims, he said he played for the 49ers and that a Gucci store on Saks Fifth Avenue belonged to him. He also told women he ran several businesses and was born in Switzerland.
His online presence grew so convincing that Google listed him as one of the team's players. Clip after clip showed him shirtless, running routes and hauling in passes, usually with his 49ers helmet close at hand. He even claimed the team had sent him a birthday cake decorated with his supposed No. 7 jersey.
Fans and players called it out
Longtime football fans and NFL players themselves eventually stepped in to point out that Love had never made a real NFL roster. The jokes about the self-styled route runner quickly reached sports figures around the league.
Arrested on wire fraud charges
The story turned serious in late August, when Love was taken into custody and charged with wire fraud. His arrest followed reports to law enforcement from a group of women who said they had been targeted by him and his business partner. All of the women described themselves as alleged victims of the pair.
Netflix has not named a director for the film or announced a release date. "Untold" has previously explored the death of Steve McNair and the turbulent "Jailblazers" era of the Portland Trail Blazers among other sports scandals.
For the women at the center of the case, the documentary is a chance to tell their side of a story most of the internet first met as a punchline.
