Phony Vince Young, phony Derek Jeter, and more of history’s greatest and most ridiculous sports impostors.

But, really, why stop at two or three alter egos? Israel “Izzy” Lang played six NFL seasons in the late-1960s before retiring to pursue a career in defrauding other players. In 1988, he was arrested for pretending to be former New York Giants running back Joe Morris. In the process of racking up 24 post-NFL arrests, Lang has also allegedly posed as Lawrence Taylor, Doug Williams, and Leonard Marshall.

Those who impersonate athletes also don’t heed the maxim that it’s unwise for a scammer to call unnecessary attention to himself. Take Steve Karsay’s impostor, Jonathan Henry—now this guy was one rude son of a bitch. Henry, who allegedly assumed Karsay’s identity to score free meals at posh Manhattan eateries over the course of two years, also made it a point to get wasted at charity events and hit on unsuspecting women. Cops nabbed Henry in 2007, but not before he got tanked at a comedy club “where he interrupted the show by hopping over the bar, [made] out with a randomly chosen woman, and [skipped] out on his $100 tab.”

Joba Chamberlain impersonator Ryan Ward wasn’t terribly interested in free meals or monetary gain, but he was still a huge jerk. Ward claims to have slept with nearly 100 women while pretending to be the rotund reliever. (“I hooked up with over 62 at least,” he told the New York Post.) Police arrested Ward in 2008. Lesson learned? Not so much. “I probably wouldn’t do it again,” said Ward, who after getting busted noted that he wanted to become a celebrity impersonator. He then did an interview with Howard Stern, began going by the name “Joba the Nut,” and was set up to meet the real Joba Chamberlain at a Yankees game. That meeting never came to pass: Ward apparently got so drunk that he was booted from the stadium.

Joba the Nut realized from the start what Ronnie Craven found out around the same time: Pro athletes can pick up lots of women, and run-of-the-mill tubby dudes with bad haircuts generally can’t. In 2008, Craven allegedly posed as former Seattle Supersonic Jeff Turner to seduce women in the slimiest of ways. “[It started as] an online dating thing,” Craven, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “Does that mean I can go out there and represent the Sonics? No. Does that mean that I did it to get some [sex]? Absolutely.”

While punks such as Craven, Ward, and the crayfish farm guy almost always get caught, their luck usually doesn’t run out right away. The ridiculous fabrications and sucked-in guts of most athlete impostors remain concealed long enough for the perpetrator to seduce a gullible woman or zoom off on a pilfered motorcycle. Faux athletes will continue to show up on the police blotter because there’s temporary gratification to be gained in convincing someone you’re Joba Chamberlain, even if it’s in a dark room and even if you end up leaving that room in handcuffs.

All the while, somewhere in the distant beyond, Barry “The Great Impostor” Bremen is shaking his head. Starting in the late 1970s and continuing through the 1980s, Bremen—who passed away this summer—sneaked onto various fields of play while posing as an NBA player, a professional golfer, and a major league outfielder. He was silly and friendly, and people loved him. Bremen wasn’t looking to trick anyone into having sex with him or trying to steal expensive bikes. He was the rare sports impersonator who simply wanted to make people laugh and smile—a guy who did it for the love of the game.

C*Correction, Oct. 20, 2011: This piece originally mislabeled the photos of basketball player Jeff Turner and his impersonator Ronnie Craven.