Lewis defends legacy, denies link to PED

NFL linebacker Ray Lewis, one of the biggest stars in his sport, wants to go out on top by helping his Baltimore Ravens win a second Super Bowl championship. But instead of taking his last bows ahead of what is to be the final football game of his career Sunday, Lewis has been forced to issue denials about a performance-enhancing drug. "It is a joke if you know me," he said Wednesday. "I have been in this game 17 years and I have too much respect for the business and my body to ever do something like that." The 37-year-old Lewis -- a hard-hitting, musclebound enforcer on the gridiron -- dismissed a Sports Illustrated report on Tuesday linking him to a product that includes a substance banned by the National Football League. The report on SI's website comes five days before the Ravens meet the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 47 that will crown the sport's new champion, at the Superdome stadium in New Orleans. Sports Illustrated reported that Lewis last year was in touch with the company Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS) as he searched for a product that might quicken his recovery from a torn right triceps. Sports Illustrated said he tried to obtain deer antler velvet extract to help him recover from his injury, which sidelined him for more than half the season. The spray however contains a compound called IGF-1, which is on the NFL's list of banned substances. Speaking at the Hilton Riverside hotel in downtown New Orleans on Wednesday, Lewis laughed off the magazine's report. "The reason why I am smiling is it is so funny of a story," Lewis said. "I never ever took what he says or did whatever I was supposed to do. "Our world is a very secret society," he said of the NFL. "We try to protect our world as much as we can," he said, railing against "cowards that come in and try to... disturb" their close and protected fraternity. "I tell my teammates all the time: 'Don't let people from the outside ever come in and try to disturb you'," he said. Lewis said the timing of the report was an attempt to capitalize on the Super Bowl hype. "It is sad someone could have this much attention on a stage this big where the dreams are really real. "I don't need it. My teammates don't need it. It is just foolish. That guy has no credibility," he said. Lewis is a hero to many who consider him to be the best ever to play the linebacker position for the National Football League, and his impending retirement has been headline news in the sport. But all the attention also has focused greater scrutiny on one of the more controversial chapters of his career. It was 13 years ago that two men were murdered following a Super Bowl party in Atlanta, Georgia, after a fight between Lewis' entourage and another group. The Ravens' star player eventually admitted giving a misleading statement to police on the morning after the killings, and the crime still remains unsolved. But critics feel he was given a pass in the case because of his superstar status in the sport, the most popular in America. Lewis has said that he intends to remain focused on winning another Super Bowl and will not be distracted by allegations dredged up from his past -- or speculation that he used banned substances. During a wide-ranging press conference ahead of his second Super Bowl in a dozen years -- Lewis said he is hoping to make a big impact -- just like he did in 2001, when he was named MVP of the game. He said he has spent countless hours studying strategy ahead of Sunday's contest, and hasn't even allowed himself to be lured by the enticements of New Orleans' night life. "Guys say to me 'aren't you going out?'" Lewis said. "I only want my face to be stuck in the iPad. I want to know everything about the San Francisco 49ers," Lewis said. And while for most players in the championship, a win or a loss Sunday will means several months of down-time before training gets underway for a new season, for Lewis it will mean retirement and the end of a storied career. "The retirement will take care of itself," he said. "When the clock hits triple zeros, no matter what happens, that will be my last ride," Lewis said. "This is the greatest stage to do it on." From AFP