2 NFL Players Missing in Florida

[Big Daddy]

Agent: 2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters
6 minutes ago

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP)?Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper were among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida?s Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard and Smith?s agent said.

Smith and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass on Saturday morning for a fishing trip and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot motor-life boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass on Sunday.

Smith owned the boat and he and Cooper had been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith?s agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

Smith, 29, had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions. Smith, who is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, also played for the San Francisco 49ers and played college ball at North Carolina State.

Del Duca called Smith one of the ?good guys? of the league and was planning to start visiting teams as a free agent this week. He said he has spoken with Smith?s family and is also in touch with Coast Guard officials.

?They?ve assured me that they?re deploying all available resources to look for these guys and get them back,? he said.

Cooper, 26, has played sparingly in five seasons with the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Jaguars, Steelers and Raiders. Cooper, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, played college ball at Washington.

Rick Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tampa, said seas were about 2 to 4 feet Saturday morning and increased to 3 to 5 feet in the afternoon. Late Saturday night, a small craft advisory was issued, when winds were around 20 knots and seas were up to 7 feet or more. There were no thunderstorms in the area.

Davis said the water was ?extremely rough and choppy? on Sunday afternoon.

Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said he had heard Smith was aboard a missing boat but hadn?t been able to confirm it.

?We?re aware of the media reports,? Keenist said Sunday afternoon. ?We?re trying to find out what we can.?

 

[IE]

follow-up article:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/01/011223/coast-guard-searching-4-missing-boaters/

 

[ageecee]

A 21 ft boat 50 miles offshore in those high seas is not a good thing. Lets hope they rode the seas to Cuba and are safe. If they tried to get back to land going against the seas well i would assume they didnt make it.

 

[hedgehog]

I was on a cruise ship in choppy waters and we were rocking bad, I hope they find them alive, it doesn't sound good

 

[UGA12]

I obviously do not know what happed to them or where they were, but it is beyond my belief that A) They would go out 50 miles in building seas B)They would go out 50 miles with a single engine (we have had to come in on just 1 of our 2 engines several times) C) They wouldnt have a satellite phone.

Not saying they did or didnt do these things, but no way I would. This one doesnt look good:scared

 

[vinnie]

Not Good :nooo:

 

[MadJack]

SOURCE: SEARCH CALLED OFF FOR MISSING BOAT

SOURCE: SEARCH CALLED OFF FOR MISSING BOAT
Posted by Mike Florio on March 1, 2009, 10:58 p.m. EST
A source with knowledge of the tragic situation that has unfolded over the past two days in Florida tells us that the authorities have called off the search for a 21-foot fishing boat carrying two NFL players.

We?re told that the boat left from Seminole, not Clearwater, and followed the Intercoastal Waterway.

A search for debris was conducted from Sand Key, which is south of Clearwater, all the way to Anclote in Pasco County.

As it was explained to us, unless the men made it onto another vessel or managed to navigate 13-foot waves in that 21-foot boat, it?s not looking good.

So at a time when we?re down in the dumps to cap a weekend of technical troubles, our measly challenges are in sharp perspective. Say a prayer for Raiders linebacker Marquise Cooper, Lions defensive end Corey Smith, Nick Skyler, and William Bleakley, and for each of their families.

 

[layinwood]

Wow, they found A boat with a survivor. Not sure if it's this boat.

 

[rrc]

The survivor is one of the 4 missing guys.

No word on the other 3.

 

[MadJack]

?BULLETIN ? MISSING FISHING BOAT WHICH WAS CARRYING TWO NFL PLAYERS FOUND; ONLY ONE SURVIVOR.?

- @BreakingNewsON

The boat was carrying Detroit Lions DE Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders LB Marquis Cooper who were among four boaters on a 21 foot boat owned by Cooper that went on a fishing trip off of Clearwater, Florida.

REVISED 12:58 PM ET: According to @BreakingNewsOn:

?Coast Guard tells @BreakingNewsOn one person was clinging to the vessel which was found overturned in the Gulf of Mexico; ID unknown.?

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REVISED 1:17 PM ET: According to @BreakingNewsOn:

?BULLETIN ? FORMER USF PLAYER NICK SCHUYLER FOUND ALIVE OFF FLORIDA COAST.?

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REVISED 1:23 PM ET: According to @BreakingNewsOn:

?Nick Schuyler told rescuers the three others on board were wearing life vests the last time he saw them, his family says.?

 

[ageecee]

Well there is hope. At least they were wearing life vests so they could be alive.

 

[Big Daddy]

Survivor clinging to overturned NFL player?s boat
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press Writer
35 minutes ago

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)?A missing boater found clinging to an overturned boat was rescued Monday off Florida?s Gulf Coast, but the search continued for two NFL players and another man aboard who didn?t return from a weekend fishing trip.

Survivor Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida player, told rescuers that the 21-foot boat was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening in rough seas and that the others got separated from the boat, Capt. Timothy M. Close said. Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been clinging to the boat since then.

The boat belongs to Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, who along with free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley, remained missing.

Television footage showed Schuyler conscious but weak as he was being taken off a helicopter at Tampa General Hospital and placed on a stretcher. The hospital declined immediate comment.

Close said the Coast Guard would search for the three missing men for ?quite awhile.?

The four left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas got heavy, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. A relative alerted the Coast Guard early Sunday after the men did not return as expected.

The Coast Guard had searched about 16,000 square miles of ocean for the Everglades-manufactured boat by Monday morning. Everglades boats are built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglas, which makes them difficult or impossible to sink.

Waves had subsided to 6 to 8 feet, still enough for a small craft advisory, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barron said.

Cooper and Smith, who were teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004, have been on fishing trips before, according to Ron Del Duca, Smith?s agent.

The 29-year-old Smith of Richmond, Va., is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds and had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the Detroit Lions.

Cooper, 26, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, has spent five seasons with five different teams, appearing in 26 games with the Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005, but playing sparingly since. He grew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and his father Bruce is a prominent sportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix.