When Matt Weiss allegedly embarked on his effort to secure “unauthorized access to student-athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities,” he was working for the Baltimore Ravens. And he remained with the Ravens for six seasons while allegedly doing it.
The Ravens, as mentioned earlier, did not respond to a request for comment on the situation. The NFL did respond, with an affirmative statement that the league will decline comment.
Although Weiss likely won’t be working for the Ravens or any other NFL team, the fact that he worked for the Ravens while doing what he allegedly did makes it relevant under the Personal Conduct Policy. Yes, it was irrelevant to his job. No, that doesn’t matter to the NFL’s efforts to ensure that all employees, players and non-players, conform their behavior to societal norms and expectations.
There’s also a question as to whether Weiss was using equipment or accounts owned by the Ravens, and whether the Ravens knew or should have known or could have known about the behavior. These are fair questions to ask, especially if the Ravens could have detected the alleged behavior and ended it years before it finally stopped.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie has found a new team.
The Ravens announced they’ve agreed to terms with Awuzie on a one-year contract.
Awuzie, 29, spent last season with the Titans. The former second-round pick appeared in eight games with seven starts, recording 26 total tackles with four passes defensed, an interception, and a forced fumble.
The Titans released Awuzie earlier this month.
Awuzie spent his first four seasons with the Cowboys then played three years for the Bengals. He’s recorded 66 passes defensed with seven interceptions in 94 career games.
Former Ravens and Michigan assistant Matt Weiss faces 24 criminal counts arising from allegedly unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft. Michigan and Weiss face a class-action lawsuit arising from Weiss’s alleged misbehavior.
Via NBC News, two women (a former Michigan gymnast and a former Michigan soccer player) have sued the school for failure to supervise and monitor Weiss.
Their lawsuit alleges that Weiss and the other parties (including Keffer Development Services, which managed confidential information) violated the plaintiffs’ Title IX protections, their civil rights, and civil laws arising from legal standards including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
“The recklessness and negligence and misconduct of the Regents, the University, and Keffer in these respects enabled Weiss to target female college athletes to obtain their private and sensitive information without authorization, including but not limited to Plaintiffs,” the civil complaint alleges.
Weiss allegedly began to access personal and intimate photographs and videos from female athletes in 2015. Prosecutors allege that Weiss accessed information regarding more than 150,000 athletes.
Weiss was a graduate assistant at Stanford when Jim Harbaugh arrived as the head coach in 2007. After two years with Jim Harbaugh, Weiss took a job as the assistant to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Weiss then moved through a variety of positions through 2020.
He rejoined Jim Harbaugh, at Michigan, in 2021 as the team’s quarterbacks coach. In 2022, Weiss served as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was abruptly fired in January 2023 following a university investigation of computer access crimes.
Neither the Ravens nor the Chargers (where Jim Harbaugh now works) responded to requests for comment from PFT. Although the alleged behavior was unrelated to Weiss’s Ravens employment, he absolutely would have been subject to league scrutiny and discipline under the Personal Conduct Policy — if he had been working for an NFL team when these allegations came to light.
Former Ravens and Michigan assistant Matt Weiss pleaded not guilty on Monday to 24 counts relating to cyber fraud.
Via Dan Wetzel of ESPN.com, Weiss was released on a $10,000 bond. He also was required to surrender his passport, and to allow officials to place software on his computer to monitor his Internet use.
Prosecutors allege that Weiss’s misconduct dates back to 2015. He allegedly accessed the personal accounts of “thousands” of NCAA student-athletes. He allegedly targeted specific female athletes, accessing personal and intimate photos and videos.
He allegedly exploited the Keffer Development Services system that keeps medical data for student-athletes at roughly 100 schools. He allegedly cracked Keffer’s code for obtaining and guessing passwords.
Weiss faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on 14 different charges, along with another two years behind bars on 10 additional charges.
Weiss has worked for both of the Harbaugh brothers. The relationship began with Jim at Stanford, from 2007 through 2008. Weiss then worked for John and the Ravens, from 2009 through 2020. Weiss rejoined Jim, at Michigan from 2021 through 2022.
With the news that Quarterback is coming back this year (due in part to the fact that Receiver fell flat), Michael Holley and I spent time on Friday’s PFT Live looking at the NFL figures we’d most like to see on a reality show.
The picks are in the attached video. Holley led things off with Deion Sanders, who isn’t technically an NFL figure but as a practical matter is. And Deion is entertaining and compelling.
My first pick was a guy who wouldn’t be obvious but who would be a superstar: Bills receiver Keon Coleman.
Coleman is naturally engaging and hilarious. He’s authentic. He’s real. He’s effortlessly funny.
Check out the clip for the other picks. And get ready to learn plenty in July about Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins (again) on the Quarterback series.
One last point, while we have your attention. (If we do.) You can now watch PFT Live on NBC Sports Now. It’s two simple clicks to get to the content. Click here, then click “watch live.”
Matt Weiss, an assistant coach who worked for John Harbaugh on the Ravens and Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, has been indicted on 24 counts related to unauthorized access to computer data and identity theft as part of a scheme in which prosecutors say he downloaded individuals’ intimate photos and videos.
Weiss was fired by Michigan two years ago amid an investigation by university police. Today the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced that Weiss was charged in a 24-count indictment alleging 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft.
“Weiss gained unauthorized access to student athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities that were maintained by a third-party vendor,” a release from the Justice Department said. “After gaining access to these databases, Weiss downloaded the personally identifiable information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes. Using the information that he obtained from the student athlete databases and his own internet research, Weiss was able to obtain access to the social media, email, and/or cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 target athletes. Weiss also illegally obtained access to the social media, email, and/or cloud storage accounts of more than 1,300 additional students and/or alumni from universities across the country. Once Weiss obtained access to these accounts, he downloaded personal, intimate digital photographs and videos that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners.”
John Harbaugh hired Weiss on the Ravens’ staff in 2009 and he filled a variety of roles in Baltimore until he was hired by Jim Harbaugh to become Michigan’s quarterbacks coach in 2021. He was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2022 and was fired amid the university’s investigation shortly after the 2022 season ended.
The NFL released the list of team-proposed changes to playing rules and bylaws on Wednesday and they include a proposal made by several clubs to change procedures used for footballs used in the kicking game.
Current rules call for those balls — known as K-Balls — to be prepared by teams during a 60-minute window on the day of games with three such balls being delivered to officials for use that day.
In the proposal, the Ravens, Browns, Texans, Eagles, Raiders, Vikings, and Commanders argue that the process “continues to put stress on NFL equipment staffs during the critical pregame period on game days” and calls for a change that would allow the balls to be prepared ahead of time.
NFL rules currently allow for balls used outside of the kicking game to be prepared in advance. The proposal adds that the same pregame inspection process would be applied to both sets of footballs in order to assure that no team is manipulating the balls to their advantage.
Any changes would need to be approved in a vote of all 32 teams with 24 votes needed to pass.
Veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley agreed to re-sign with the Ravens this offseason, extending his run with the Ravens that began back in 2016.
In 2025, he’ll have a new veteran teammate at receiver in DeAndre Hopkins. In his Monday video conference, Stanley expressed his excitement to have Hopkins on board.
“I mean I had a huge smile on my face when we signed ‘D-Hop,’” Stanley said. “You know what you’re getting with that guy. I think he’s a Hall of Fame-caliber wide receiver, and I still think he has a lot of good reps, years, seasons in him. And he’s a physical player, he’s a competitive player, and I think he’s going to fit into our team really well.”
Hopkins split his 2024 between the Titans and Chiefs, catching 56 passes for 610 yards with five TDs in 16 total games. He then had three receptions for 29 yards with a TD in three postseason games for Kansas City.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley didn’t wait for the start of the official free agency negotiating period to make up his mind about where he’ll be playing in the future.
Stanley chose to re-sign with the Ravens on a three-year deal that sets him up for a 12-year run with the team that made him a first-round pick in 2016. During a press conference on Monday, Stanley said that history led him to give the Ravens “first dibs” on signing him and he feels that the deal he signed fit his needs while also allowing the Ravens to spend money elsewhere.
Stanley said it is “really cool” to spend his entire career in one place and that he feels there’s unfinished business as he heads into his 10th season with the team.
“Yeah, for sure,” Stanley said. “We’ve broken so many records the last however many years, I don’t think we really care about it to be honest. Especially guys that have been here. The only we really care about is winning a Super Bowl. All that other stuff for sure is nice and all, but, yeah, definitely unfinished business. I don’t think anyone’s really happy.”
Plenty of longtime Ravens have expressed variations on that theme since the team’s loss to the Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs and Stanley wants to be around when the team finally does break through.
Cooper Rush is headed to backup a quarterback in the AFC.
Rush has agreed to a two-year deal with the Ravens, according to multiple reports.
The initial numbers indicate Rush’s contract is worth $12.2 million.
Rush, 31, had spent effectively all of his career with the Cowboys — with the exception of a short stint with the Giants in 2020. He’s appeared in 38 games with 14 starts. The Cowboys notably went 4-1 with Rush at quarterback for a five-game stint in 2022. The club was 4-4 with him as a starter in 2024.
Rush has completed 60.7 of his career passes for 3,463 yards with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Now, he’ll serve as the backup to two-time MVP Lamar Jackson.
