It Wouldn't Be Super Bowl Week Without Controversy

The week leading up to the Super Bowl, at times, can be more interesting than the game itself. This week has proved that much, with both the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers having players tangled in some sort of controversy. The two biggest stories have been Raven’s LB Ray Lewis’ believed use of a banned substance. The 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver came out with homophobic remarks on a radio show earlier in the week. Neither team has seemed to be distracted, but it sure doesn’t help.

Coming into this week, many figured that the media would be talking about Lewis’ retirement after the Super Bowl, and him going out on top. On Tuesday news broke of a man accusing Lewis of using a banned substance. Lewis of course denied this, and ensured everyone that he has never used such a substance. It makes you wonder why no one would report this until the week leading up to the big game. Also, if this report isn’t true it’s disrespectful to Lewis and the Ravens.

This team doesn’t need anymore distractions leading up to the game, and there’s no reason to slander Lewis in any fashion. It’s hard to believe whether Lewis used these substances or not, but he has never failed an NFL drug test, so I would have to side with Lewis on this one. The 49ers had some unneeded controversy as well with Culliver.

On Tuesday, during an interview on the Artie Lang show, Culliver made homophobic remarks based on his views of having an openly gay player in the locker room. Culliver said there was no room for that in the 49ers locker room, and he wouldn’t accept anyone that was gay as a teammate. This statement was not only incredibly dumb, but insensitive to a level where you wonder what the guy was thinking.

The 49ers quickly came out and released a statement saying they have nothing to do with these comments. Culliver released an apology trying to cover up the whole thing. Once you’ve said something like this though, you can’t take it back. He put his thoughts out there, and now he has to live with it. He should be suspended by the league and not allowed to play in the Super Bowl. Besides the fact that he said it, comes unwarranted attention to the 49ers.

Soon enough we will find out if these teams are affected by this negativity. Both coaches seem to get their teams composed in tough situations so it will be interesting to watch for.

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