S.W.A.T.S. Busted

A story in the Feb. 4 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED exposed S.W.A.T.S., a pseudoscientific supplement company in Alabama that was bamboozling athletes into using and endorsing products that were by turns silly (deer-antler spray that contained the banned substance IGF-1, holographic stickers for better balance) and dangerous (other stickers said to treat diabetes and beanies that protected against concussions).

Last Thursday, law enforcement authorities raided S.W.A.T.S. The complaint filed by the Alabama attorney general said that the proprietors of S.W.A.T.S. "will say and sell anything under the premise of boosting athletic performance." The attorney general identified the "concussion caps"—aimed at youth players—as a serious violation of Alabama's Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

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BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES (S.W.A.T.S.)