Taylor Lewan denies allegations at NFL Combine

If Taylor Lewan is on NFL teams' draft radar, they'll likely be looking into recent allegations about the offensive tackle from Michigan. Lewan denied the allegations Thursday when he met with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine.

In late January, the Michigan Daily, the university's newspaper, reported that Wolverines kicker Brendan Gibbons had been "permanently separated" from the university as of mid-December for violating the school's Student Sexual Misconduct Policy. The story was based on a letter from the university the Michigan Daily says it obtained. According to an Ann Arbor Police Department report, Gibbons was accused of raping a fellow student while at an on-campus fraternity party in 2009. Gibbons was taken into custody on the night of the alleged incident and was questioned but was never charged.

Lewan's name became linked to the police investigation after a friend of the victim told Ann Arbor police that Lewan made threats toward the victim in December 2009. According to the Detroit Free Press, the police report said Lewan told the friend that if the victim pressed charges against Gibbons "then I'm going to rape her because he didn't."

Lewan denied the allegation Thursday and added that he was "not here to defend Brendan Gibbons."

"It's a situation between two people," Lewan said of the accusation directed toward Gibbons. "I've said a lot of dumb things, but those are not things I've said. I would never disrespect a woman like that. I consider myself a guy who holds doors, not threatens people."