Two things that we’ve witnessed in the last 30 years are the Ravens’ elite draft history between general managers Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta and the propensity for NFL players to return to the sport in coaching and scouting roles when their playing careers are over. Newsome himself was a Hall of Fame tight end before making a case to become a future Hall of Fame executive. Now, DeCosta and the Ravens are actively working to merge those aforementioned two things with the Legends Scout School. 
Ravens editorial director Ryan Mink provided details on the recent event about two weeks ago. The event was a two-hour, virtual crash course that the team’s director of legacy engagement, Matt Little, organized in tandem with the player personnel department. Named similarly to the Reese’s Senior Bowl’s Scout School, the Ravens’ version was developed as Little continuously saw more and more former Ravens express interest in getting into scouting.
The group of 21 players included former starting contributors like recently retired defenders Michael Pierce and Jimmy Smith, journeyman players whose time in Baltimore was brief like Antwan Barnes and Terrence West, and draft picks that never quite found their place on the roster like Prince Daniels and Aaron Mellette. The players ranged from Baltimore’s earliest days to its most recent season. Former NFL running back Earnest Byner was in attendance — his last two seasons of a 14-year career were Baltimore’s first two seasons as a franchise — as was Pierce, who retired shortly after catching his first career interception this past season.
The event started with a brief introduction from DeCosta, followed by an overview of the staff from director of player personnel Mark Azevedo, who then went over the role of a player personnel assistant. Then, director of college scouting Andrew Raphael provided a crash course on the college scouting process, followed by a similar breakdown of the pro scouting process by assistant director of pro personnel Corey Frazier. Vice president or football administration Nick Matteo closed the learning period by going over salary cap and contract management.
After all of that, Azevedo returned to go over the league’s Nunn-Wooten scouting fellowship program. The NFL created the program in 2015 to expose interested and qualified candidates to a career in professional scouting. One former player who expressed interest in applying for the fellowship was Marcus Smith. Smith, who had attended Mobile’s three-day event in 2024, claimed to have taken more away from Baltimore’s school in just two hours.
It’s certainly an interesting offseason project for the Ravens. While similar events, like the Senior Bowl’s, have been available before, this is the first known event like this designed by a team for its former players. It’s the latest advancement we’ve seen in the NFL’s efforts to improve the quality of life for players once their playing days are over, and it’s a welcomed sight.
Here’s a full list of players who attended the event with their Baltimore tenures:
- OLB Antwan Barnes (2007-2009)
- DT Levi Brown (2014)
- RB Earnest Byner (1996-1997)
- G Chris Chester (2006-2010)
- WR Terrance Copper (2008)
- RB Prince Daniels (2006-2008)
- OL Steve Edwards (2007)
- T Jared Gaither (2007-2010)
- TE Terry Jones (2002-2005)
- FB Jason McKie (2010)
- WR Aaron Mellette (2013)
- C Quentin Neujahr (1996-1997)
- DT Michael Pierce (2016-2019,2022-2024)
- C Matt Skura (2016-2020)
- CB Jimmy Smith (2011-2021)
- WR Marcus Smith (2008-2011)
- G Tre Stallings (2008-2009)
- WR Travis Taylor (2000-2004)
- RB Terrence West (2015-2017)
- LB Kenny Young (2018-2019)
- C Jeremy Zuttah (2014-2016,2017)
Justin Tucker: “I’m available if you need someone to scout the regional massage parlors”.
Michael Pierce has got to be the biggest scout in history if he ends up working there. It would be interesting as a college player looking up in the stands and seeing him there-you’d always know if the Ravens were watching.
Love seeing all these guys come out to hopefully use their experience to stay in the game. Hopefully we’ll hear more success stories from them going forward.
Baltimore has definitely launched a lot of post-playing careers either on the sideline or the front office.
Love the image of Pierce as the most conspicuous scout in the world. Did you see that D’Brickashaw Ferguson just got a degree in nursing to follow in his mother and grandmother’s footsteps? Imagine having a nurse that huge.
I had to tell my wife, after reading that story and chuckling, that he had easily the best name in football at the time. By all accounts, he’s a great dude, and he had a fantastic career.
Yeah, my wife doesn’t care even slightly about sports, but she appreciates a good name. And same about Ferguson. There were plenty of rough times in those years as a Jets fan (copy-paste about any set of years for the Jets), but having Ferguson and Mangold was great.