The scandals that have been paraded before us for the past year or more concerning the use of Deer Antler Extract Spray by professional athletes would have been funny if they had not gotten so many well meaning players into trouble.
Big time Major League Baseball players were brought low when suddenly their names were plastered in front of the whole world as drug abusers. Ridiculous.
Professional athletes around the world are always on the lookout for anything that will give them that minute advantage to put them over the top and win the game. So, someone discovered that deer antlers were the fastest growing substance in nature so, let’s try it on athletes and see if we can make them grow bigger.
Of course, some guys fell for it and are still falling for it. Some say that it works wonders. Others claim that the extract, like insulin, is neutralized by our own bodily fluids long before it reaches the bloodstream. Take your pick.
Last week, the World Anti-Doping Authority or WADA announced that they were taking Deer Antler Extract off the list of prohibited substances for athletes. As it turns out, the stuff contains only a minute amount of the banned ingredient known as IGF-1 which is classified as a human growth hormone.
As you will remember, there was a big to-do back at the Super Bowl when it came out that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was also using the stuff, at least that is what was claimed in a Sports Illustrated article ill-timed to come out just days before the Super Bowl. Lewis denied ever taking the extract. Bad journalism at its worst.
Recently, golfing great Vijay Singh admitted using the Deer Antler Spray in a televised interview. The PGA Tour was threatening sanctions against Singh before WADA came out with the announcement clearing the extract of guilt and exonerating Singh.
Controversial character number one in this story is a guy named Mitch Ross who reportedly sold the Deer Antler Spray aka, the Ultimate Spray to Ray Lewis and then ratted him out to the press. Ross heads an outfit known as S.W.A.T.S. which sells supplements to anyone hoping to improve their athletic performance.
It remains to be seen just how this will affect athletes who choose to try out the benefits of Deer Antler Spray in the future. Does it really help them…or is this all just another case of “much to do about nothing.”
