Ray Lewis Allegedly Used A Banned Deer Antler Spray To Recover From An Arm Injury Earlier This Season

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis allegedly took a banned substance during his rehab from an injury this year, according to a new report from Sports Illustrated.

In the report, the founder of S.W.A.T.S. — an alternative sports medicine company run by a former steroids dealer — says Lewis called him and asked for several supplements after he tore his triceps on October 14.

One of those supplements is called "Ultimate Spray."

It's a deer antler-derived spray that contains IGF-1 — a banned performance-enhancing substance similar to HGH. Athletes shoot it in their mouths to speed muscle growth.

In a recorded phone conversation, Lewis seemed to not really know what to do with the spray (via SI):

"Spray on my elbow every two hours?" Lewis asked.

"No," Ross said, "under your tongue."

Toward the end of the talk, Lewis asked Ross to "just pile me up and just send me everything you got, because I got to get back on this this week."

Lewis did not deny that he took S.W.A.T.S. supplements during his rehab, telling SI, "Nobody helped me out with the rehab. I've been doing S.W.A.T.S. for a couple years through Hue Jackson, that's it. That's my only connection to them."

As Deadspin points out, we've known Ray Lewis has used S.W.A.T.S. products since summer of 2011.

But he didn't answer a question about the deer antler spray specifically when asked by SI this time around.

As you might imagine, the whole deer antler spray thing is brand new. It was only in August of 2011 that major sports leagues first told their players that the spray contained IGF-1 was strictly prohibited as a result.

According to SI, it's still unclear if deer IGF-1 even works in humans.

S.W.A.T.S. specializes in dubious-sounding supplements like negatively charged water and special underwear that has been exposed to radio waves.