After a Life of Lies, Man Admits He Was Never an Oakland Raider

After years of making personal appearances and signing autographs as a member of the "1980 AFC Champion Oakland Raiders," a Florida man named Ed McCabe has admitted he was never an NFL player.

The strangest thing about it: McCabe appears to have lied in large part to help him raise money for charitable organizations that aid injured former NFL players.

"I have never been on an active NFL roster," McCabe told The Palm Beach Post. "My time and effort has been donated to help the NFL Alumni and these charities when no one else in the area would take the lead."

However, McCabe didn't do all his lying to help charities. He seems to have gotten a job as a broker with a mortgage company in part because of his alleged NFL experience; although the company has now taken down his official biography, which extolled his NFL career, it can still be seen here. And even McCabe's own wife apparently believed her husband had played for the Raiders until last week.

Asked why he didn't come clean, McCabe told the Post he "should have clarified" some things about his past.

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