Owner of SWATS Mitch Ross: “Ray Lewis is Not Guilty of Using a Banned Substance.”

Ray Lewis is focused on winning another Super Bowl in New Orleans this week, but instead he had to address a Sports Illustrated Report that claimed he used deer-antler spray to help speed up his recovery from a torn right triceps this season. Deer-antler spray is a banned substance by NFL standards. Lewis has dismissed these reports. Here’s Mitch Ross, who’s the owner of SWATS, the company that claims to have given the Ravens linebacker this substance. Mitch Ross joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss Ray Lewis’ denial of the Sports Illustrated report he used deer-antler spray, speaking with Lewis after he tore his triceps, Lewis having animosity toward him, setting up Lewis’ recovery treatment and Lewis disputing his claims because of Roger Goodell.

How would you react to Ray Lewis’ denial of the Sports Illustrated report and not using deer-antler spray?

“First, Ray Lewis is not guilty of using a banned substance. You can’t ban a natural-occurring substance. You can’t ban deer-antler. If you are going to ban deer-antler, you gotta ban steak, you gotta ban milk. Every training camp they serve steak and milk, so that’s the first thing I would say. Ray did what he had to do in order to get back on the field. That’s what he said. Ray is not the only athlete I have recovered as a company. There’s many athletes we’ve worked with. Sports Illustrated did this story because two years ago, which is the story Ray was talking about, this product and this technology works so well they want to know why the NFL is even contemplating banning it, much less having athletes walk away and coaches walk away from an anti-steroids program that they were all endorsers of.”

You said you spoke to Ray Lewis after he tore his triceps? How did that conversation go? Did he contact you?

“I texted him after the game, ‘What’s wrong with your arm?’ He said, ‘Possible torn triceps.’ The same way I contacted him in 2011 about his foot, so then he called me after he got off the field and we got a plan together and we got him on the road to getting him back on the field in 15 days.”

So why is this report coming out today and why does it seem like Ray Lewis has all this animosity toward you rather than the NFL?

“I guess Sports Illustrated decided to run their story. I don’t control these things. God, to be honest with you, has been in this thing the whole way from long ago when I started this whole company. These are God-given products that are made by God. Man can’t make antler spray. These technologies that we have can rebuild brains and can rebuild tissue and they can’t even be used? Ray Lewis has done it the right way. Thanks to Coach Hue Jackson in 2008, when he introduced us, that’s when it all started.”

So are you saying Ray Lewis didn’t use a product from your company?

“I’m not telling you he didn’t use anything. He got on a protocol. He absolutely, certainly did. He used every product that I had. It was set up by me — how to do it — and I even developed an arm band for him to use on Day 7 to strengthen his triceps faster and provide him with some liquid rest that would help him heal faster as well.”

So Ray Lewis is disputing what you are saying?

“It sounds like he is disputing it. I guess because he is scared of Roger Goodell. Ray is not the only athlete partaking in the SWATS protocol. He wanted to get back to the Super Bowl and 20 minutes after we were conversating. It’s that simple.”