Smiling, even laughing, at questions about a report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis says he "never, ever took" the stuff.
Lewis also says he's "agitated," not angry, that the story has become part of the Super Bowl-week prelude to Baltimore's game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.\
He said Wednesday that he's certain his teammates won't be distracted by the report in Sports Illustrated. The magazine said Lewis sought help from a company that says its deer-antler spray and pills contain a banned product connected to human growth hormone. Lewis is the leading tackler in the NFL postseason after returning from a torn right triceps that sidelined him for 10 games.
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Earlier, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Lewis assured him "there's nothing to" the magazine report.
Harbaugh said he spoke to Lewis and said the linebacker "knows there is nothing to it. He understands it's something he's never been involved in."
"He laughed about it," Harbaugh said, referring to Lewis. "He told me there's nothing to it. He's told us in the past and now that he has never taken any of it."
Baltimore plays the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Sunday in the final game of Lewis' career.
On Tuesday, Lewis declined to directly address in any detail questions about the report that he sought help from a company that makes the unorthodox product to speed his recovery from a torn right triceps.