Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis connected to bizarre two-man health care company by Sports Illustrated
By Chris Korman (The Baltimore Sun, 1/29/2013)
In a story that includes the phrase “he asks between squirts of deer antler,” Sports Illustrated brings the fascinating story of two men aggressively marketing a line of health care supplements — hologram stickers, the aforementioned deer antler spray, powders, underwear drenched in liquid (seriously) — to college and pro athletes.
The company’s name explains the concept: S.W.A.T.S., which stands for Sports with Alternatives to Steroids.
At the center of the story is none other than Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who is in New Orleans preparing to play the final game of his NFL career on Sunday. It is not coincidental that this story dropped on the day of Super Bowl Media Day.
Here is a lengthy excerpt, placed here in full because of how fascinating it is:
Hours after he tore his triceps during an Oct. 14 home game against the Cowboys, Ravens All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis and Ross connected on the phone. Again, Ross videotaped the call.
“It’s bottom, near the elbow,” Lewis said of the tear. After asking a few pseudo diagnostic questions, Ross concluded, “All right, well this is going to be simple. . . . How many pain chips you got around the house?”
“I got plenty of them,” Lewis replied.
Ross prescribed a deluxe program, including holographic stickers on the right elbow; copious quantities of the powder additive; sleeping in front of a beam-ray light programmed with frequencies for tissue regeneration and pain relief; drinking negatively charged water; a 10-per-day regimen of the deer-antler pills that will “rebuild your brain via your small intestines” (and which Lewis said he hadn’t been taking, then swallowed four during the conversation); and spritzes of deer-antler velvet extract (the Ultimate Spray) every two hours.
“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.”
Ross says he provided the products free of charge. He even trotted out a novel S.W.A.T.S. technology for the star client: undergarments — black with Lewis’s name and number in -purple — drenched in pungent menthol liquid that Key and Ross exposed to radio waves.
Continue reading “Ray Lewis’ rehab included deer antler spray, hologram stickers” at The Baltimore Sun.
Related:
- The zany story of two self ordained sports science entrepreneurs — Sports Illustrated
- Ray Lewis Has Reportedly Used A Banned Substance For Years, But No One Cares Because It’s Football — Deadspin
- Babe Ruth Injected Sheep’s Testicles and Shilled for Tobacco
