Leading up to his final NFL game this Sunday at Super Bowl XLVII, Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis has once again found himself in the uncomfortable glare of the media spotlight.
The NFL's all-time sacks leader and defensive legend was confronted with several questions regarding his past during Media Day of the upcoming Super Bowl between his Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.
One of the topics he was first confronted about involved his involvement in the 2000 trial for a double-murder that he was linked to during Super Bowl weekend that year.
"Honestly, I don't know nobody that has ever lived a perfect life," Lewis said on Media Day. "I have saw people that went through things before and realistically, most of the time what happens, when somebody goes through adversity, you really find out what their true character is. I think for me, people really now have taken time to find out who I am. They are really learning what my character is."
Lewis was under a lot of media scrutiny in 2001 during the Ravens' first Super Bowl-winning run for Super Bowl XXXV, during which he was bombarded with questions about the January 31, 2000 stabbing deaths of two people during a Super Bowl party in Atlanta, Ga. Lewis was partying with two accused defendants at a local club when a fight broke out that led to the victims' deaths by stabbing.
As part of a deal to avoid jail time, Lewis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice related to the incident and agreed to testify against his co-defendants.
Since that time, no one as really asked Lewis about the night in question, but the inquiries were bound to fly with the Ravens in the big game. And that's just fine with him.
"My character is simply to make this world a better place, to encourage people that no matter what you're going through, it ain't really what you're going through," Lewis said. "It's your mindset when you're going through it. So, when you see all the support that I'm getting right now, I'm in total awe of the respect that some people have of someone who has been through adversity but found his way out and really just shown what my true character is and who I am as a person."
But that's not the only thing Lewis is on the hotseat for.
Sports Illustrated reported for their Feb. 4 edition of SI Magazine that Lewis tried to obtain a steroid known as deer-antler spray in order to heal faster from his torn triceps injury that he suffered during the season.
Lewis denied the allegations with the Super Bowl press onhand.
"Two years ago, that was the same report," he said. "It's not worthy of the press."
When asked directly whether he had used the spray during his recovery this season, Lewis said, "Nah, never."
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh backed Lewis, adding that he wasn't concerned about the story and that drug tests were never an issue.
"Ray has passed every test for substance abuse that he's taken throughout his entire career," Harbaugh said.
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