Nick Schuyler's New Book Brings New Questions From Other Families

((HT: KPNX-TV Phoenix))

A little more than two years ago, we were all fixed on Tampa Bay, Florida as four men were lost in the Gulf of Mexico as their boat capsized.

Three of the four died and the fourth, Nick Schuyler, has written a new book on his experiences with the help of Jere Longman.

However... and this is one big "however..."

The father of former NFL'er Marquis Cooper, KPNX Sports Director Bruce Cooper, maintains that Schuyler has defied logic and science through his accounts of those days at sea.

Cooper addresses those concerns with Mark Curtis...


Here's your recap for those of you who have forgotten what went down...
((HT: ESPN/youtube))

Final Report Given In Tampa Boating Accident

((HT: ABC Action News-WFTS))

An agency investigating a deadly boating accident involving two NFL players and their friends in the Gulf of Mexico has concluded it was caused when the vessel was improperly anchored and the boat capsized after one of them tried to throttle forward to pry loose the anchor.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's investigation also cited carelessness and operator inexperience as contributing factors. The combination of errors came at the time a storm front was moving in, making conditions on the water very rough.

Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, and former University of South Florida players William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler departed from Clearwater Pass, Fla., early February 28 to go offshore fishing for amberjack.

Schuyler, found clinging to the boat two days later, was the lone survivor. The other three men have not been found.

In an in-depth interview with the agency, Schuyler gave this account of the accident:

Early that morning, the men went more than 50 miles offshore in Cooper's 21-foot vessel. It was loaded with two large coolers filled with ice, drinks, food and beer. All of the friends were dressed in warm clothes, sweat suits and jackets.

Around 5:30 p.m., they went to pull up the anchor and head back to port, but the anchor was stuck. Bleakley suggested they tie it to the transom and use the boat's motor to pull it loose.

When Cooper tried to thrust the boat forward, the vessel became submerged and capsized, tossing the men overboard. All four tried uprighting the boat by standing on one side of the overturned vessel. When that didn't work, Bleakley swam underneath and was able to retrieve three life vests, a large cooler and a portable, cushion-type flotation device.

Bleakley, who Schuyler has credited with saving his life, used the makeshift flotation device, which has been described previously as a cushion. The other three wore the vests.

The men appear to have tried everything in their power to rescue themselves: Schuyler told the agency they tried retrieving and using flares, but they were wet, agency Investigator Jim Manson said. They got their cell phones, which were in plastic baggies, but there was no signal.

They knew how many hours were passing because Schuyler had a watch with a light on and was able to keep track of the time. He said that around 5:30 a.m. the next day, Cooper became unresponsive. Schuyler and Bleakley tried to revive him without success.

Cooper's flotation device was removed and Bleakley put it on. The Oakland Raiders linebacker then became separated from the boat.

About an hour later, Smith started to show "possible extreme symptoms of hypothermia." He removed his flotation device and also became separated from the boat.

The two college teammates were the only ones left. They hung on together for about 24 hours, until Bleakley grew weak and removed his life vest as well.

Schuyler said that his friend appeared to die as he was holding onto him. He let his friend go and Bleakley drifted away.

Manson said moving the anchor line to the stern, or back of the boat, contributed to the vessel's instability and flooding when they tried to free it. He described it as a mistake that probably happens every day, but one that a more experienced boater would be aware of and could handle.

Manson recommended cutting the line if boaters are not able to easily free their anchor. The agency advises boaters to take a boating safety course and leave a detailed float plan with friends or family.

Cooper, the boat's owner, had more than 100 hours of boating experience but no formal education, and had been drinking, according to the report.

"Overall, it's just a mistake in anchoring," Manson said.

The Coast Guard released its records on the accident last week. According to the agency, Schuyler told them the boat capsized after their anchor got caught in a reef.

The accuracy of that account was somewhat unclear because Schuyler was suffering from hypothermia and spoke to them shortly after he was pulled from the boat. His doctor said he probably could have only lived another five to 10 hours.

The Coast Guard called off its search after three days of scouring 24,000 miles of ocean.
WFTS-TV Carson Chambers has the story...

Schuyler Appears At Bleakley Service

((HT: ABC 28 Tampa))

Nick Schuyler ((pictured, thanks ABCactionnews.com)), the lone survivor of last weekend's boating tragedy that apparently claimed the lives of three of his friends, was one of the hundreds of mourners who attended a memorial service for former USF football player Will Bleakely.

A friend of Schuyler's told ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi that he was released from Tampa General Hospital on Thursday, according to ESPN's website. A week after two NFL players and two of their friends sailed into the Gulf of Mexico on a fishing trip that turned disastrous, Schuyler was among hundreds of family and friends who paid tribute to the former USF and Crystal River High School athlete.

Relatives and his pastors recalled the young man's dedication to his family, and his hard work and positive attitude on and off the football field.

"His time here was far too short," Blake Bleakley, his older brother, told the mourners, "but very well spent."

Bleakley and Schuyler were aboard a 21 foot center console boat owned by Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper last Saturday it overturned in choppy waters in the Gulf of Mexico.Corey Smith, a free-agent defensive lineman who played with the Detroit Lions and Schuyler were also aboard.Relatives reported the men missing early Sunday when they didn't return from their outing, sparking a massive Coast Guard search.Schuyler was found clinging to the overturned vessel Monday morning by Coast Guard rescuers. However, Smith, Cooper and Bleakley were never found.Schulyer was flown to TGH and was last reported to be in good condition earlier this week.

Schuyler, making his first public appearance since the rescue, could be seen limping slightly across a field outside the church toward a reception. He did not want to speak with reporters, his relatives said.

During the service, which was open to the public, Rev. David Lane, a USF sports chaplain, recalled how Bleakley swam underneath the boat when it overturned to find life vests and a cooler for the group.

"That sounds like Will, doesn't it?" Lane said.

Bleakley was a walk-on to the USF team, but later earned a scholarship and became captain. Coach Jim Leavitt said he was a skilled player, but that his biggest contribution was his positive spirit. He was always encouraging other players and keeping an upbeat attitude, Leavitt said.

"The guys really picked him, that's what makes it really powerful," Leavitt said of Bleakley's role as captain. "You'll never find anybody that would ever say a bad word about him."

A family slideshow pictured Bleakley in various football uniforms through the years, alongside his proud parents, in a graduation gown, fishing, and hanging out with friends on the beach - always with a smile.

Blake Bleakley recalled that when he introduced his tall, younger sibling to friends, their immediate reaction was always, "Your little brother? I always had to explain he was my big little brother."

He closed the tribute by saying, "You will always be in my heart, my brother."

Cooper's family discontinued a private search for the men on Friday. In a statement, Bruce Cooper said the family had decided to forego a memorial service, but asked people to remember his son in their thoughts and hearts instead.

"We are just beginning the process of healing," Bruce Cooper said. "We are staying prayerful. One day the pain will be a little less burdensome. Right now, we just need time to be together and remember Marquis."

ABC 28's Dustin Chase was at the service in Citrus County...

The Search is Over

Unfortunate Ending...

Well, it had to eventually end. The story that we here at the OSG and a good portion of the country has followed, that of the Football players and the capsized boat in the Gulf of Mexico has essentially come to an end. The family of NFL Player Marquis Cooper has asked the Coast Guard and others to curtail there search for the missing boaters. It's been almost a week now and the likelihood of them being found is almost infinitesimal.

((photo courtesy of: Adam Campbell/US Coast Guard))

From ABC28:

After speaking privately with the lone survivor, Nick Schuyler, Cooper's family said they have decided to stop asking for volunteers to search the waters off Clearwater Pass for the remaining men. After the Coast Guard suspended their search Tuesday night, Bruce Cooper, Marquis's father, began soliciting for experienced pilots and boaters to continue searching the waters near where Cooper's boat was found, against the advice of the Coast Guard.

Volunteers that searched the area the last few days didn't turn up any new signs of Cooper, Detroit Lion Corey Smith, and former USF player Will Bleakley.Cooper, a former Buccaneer, played last year for the Oakland Raiders. Cooper's family said that have not planned a memorial service, saying it is too hard to do so. They are currently working on packing up Cooper's personal effects.

In a statement released Friday, Bruce Cooper said "One day the pain will be a little less burdensome. Right now, we just need time to be together and remember Marquis."

A memorial service for Bleakley is scheduled for Saturday at 3 pm at the Crystal River United Methodist Church. Meanwhile Schuyler continues to recover from hypothermia at Tampa General Hospital.

Read Bruce Cooper's Statement on the search for his son Marquis:

"Thursday at 5PM, we received new information on the events of last Saturday and decided to discontinue the search for Marquis.We want to thank everyone in Arizona, Tampa, and all over the United States for their thoughts, well-wishes, prayers and volunteer efforts on our behalf. We especially want to thank the members of the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Air Force, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife agency for their extraordinary and courageous efforts to rescue Marquis and his friends.We are beginning the process of healing. We are staying prayerful. One day the pain will be a little less burdensome. Right now, we just need time to be together and remember Marquis.Many of you have asked about a memorial or prayer service for Marquis. The family has decided to forgo any such service and asks instead that all of you memorialize Marquis in your hearts and thoughts. Marquis was a great father and husband and a great provider for his family. His daughter and wife Rebekah will be OK; they just need time to heal. Thank you."

Check out the latest from Tampa Bay.com and the St.Pete Times here

Yahoo Sports is a little more to the point here



Also, our good friends at WFTS have some video for us from the last round of searching:

Families Of Missing Boaters Still Searching

((HT: ABC 28))

Marquis Cooper's family knows that the Coast Guard is warning against any independent searches for the three remaining boaters who remain missing. The family says they are only looking for volunteers who have experience, and they are getting help.

Bruce Cooper called the media together to spread the word on a website, halmayer.com, a place where the family is asking for donations and volunteers to aid in their search.

Already, three pilots have responded to his plea. They are asking for $50/hour plus fuel. The Cooper family is more than willing to pay the price.

Cooper says he appreciates all that the Coast Guard has done, but he cannot give up.
The Cooper family has also released an e-mail address, mailto://nflsearchandrescue@gmail.com, for those interested in joining the search.

Meanwhile, volunteers left on five boats from John's Pass Wednesday afternoon on an independent mission to look for the missing boaters. The volunteers plan to stay out until 1:00am Thursday, and they expect to continue searching for the next few days.

While volunteer crews are searching for the three men, the fourth passenger on the boat, Nick Schuyler, is recovering from hypothermia. Schuyler had no more than 10 hours left to live when he was pulled from a capsized boat in the Gulf of Mexico Monday. That was the estimate Dr. Mark Rumbak gave reporters at Tampa General Hospital on Wednesday.

He said Schuyler's body temperature had fallen to 89 degrees, which he classified as moderate hypothermia. Dr. Rumbak said he had "estimated 5-10 hours left." Schuyler's body temperature had risen to around 95 degrees when the rescue helicopter carrying him landed at TGH.

Schuyler, a former USF football player, also suffered trauma to his muscles, chest, ankles and knees from a combination of being bounced by rough seas off the boat's upturned bottom and exposure to the cold Gulf water.

"Mentally, I think he's doing well," Rumbak said. "I don't think this has fully hit him yet."

Rumbak said Schuyler's condition, which was serious when he arrived, is now listed as good.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission sent out a crew early Wednesday to retrieve the doomed vessel the men were aboard late Saturday when it capsized. The boat was to be be righted and the water pumped out before being towed back to shore.

Crews combed more than 24,000 miles of ocean before calling off their search Tuesday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley. The four friends had been missing since Saturday when their boat capsized during a fishing trip.

On Monday, Crews did rescue Schuyler, who managed to stay with the 21-foot boat. Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said if there were any other survivors, they would have been found.

"I think the families understood that we put in a tremendous effort," Close said. "Any search and rescue case we have to stop is disappointing."

Searchers spotted no signs of the men except for a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat. Still, family members of Cooper -- the son of Phoenix sportscaster Bruce Cooper -- maintained hope at a Tuesday night prayer vigil in Mesa, Ariz., that he might turn up.

Some family members raised the possibility of organizing their own search, but that was strongly discouraged by the Coast Guard.

"Even if he goes on, he's with the Lord," said Cooper's grandmother, Zelma Davis. "But we have hope we're going to keep him."

Bleakley's father said he thought Coast Guard rescuers did everything they could, adding he had lower expectations after only one survivor was found Monday.

"I think they were not to be found," Robert Bleakley said.

Scott Miller, a friend of the college teammates, said Schuyler told him that a chopper shone a light directly above them the first night. Schuyler also told him he even saw lights beaming from ashore.

It was Bleakley who swam underneath to retrieve three life jackets he could find, along with a cushion, a groggy Schuyler told Miller from a Tampa hospital. Bleakley used the cushion and the other men wore the jackets, Miller said.

But the waves were powerful, and after Cooper and Smith were separated from the boat, the college teammates tried to hang on.

"He said basically that Will helped him keep going," Schuyler told Miller, who said he had known Bleakley since the sixth grade. "The waves were just so much. They never got a break."

Family and friends embraced and sobbed outside the Coast Guard station shortly before the announcement. They left without talking with reporters.

"I'm sure that I'll speak of Will like he's still with us for a long time," Robert Bleakley said later of his son. "He'll be an inspiration for me for a long time. He always has been. I told everybody, I call him my hero."

Here's your coverage from Tampa, courtesy of WFTS-TV and ABC Action News...

Sarina Fazan is in the town of Odessa with a look at the family's attempts to rescue the three missing players on their own- against the advice of the Coast Guard...

Search Called Off Florida Coast

((HT: ABC 28 Tampa))

After 50 missions spanning 230 hours, the Coast Guard says they will officially suspend their search for three missing boaters at sundown ((pictured, thanks WFTS-TV)). Coast Guard Captain Timothy Close said Tuesday that they are confident that there are no survivors on the surface, saying that their 24,000 square mile search would have turned up any additional survivors.

The two NFL players, Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, and a third man, William Bleakley, have been missing since their boat capsized off the Florida coast over 60 hours ago. Coast Guard officials had been holding out hope due to the size and good health of the men.A Coast Guard C-130, an N-60 helicopter and three cutters searched a narrow area Tuesday. Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn't prevent.

"I can't emphasize this enough," Close said. "We do not want any additional search and rescue cases resulting from people who are outside their experience level."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat, which was still on the water.William Bleakley's father said he felt comfortable with the Coast Guard's decision and that his expectations lowered after only one survivor was found.

"I think they did everything that they could," Robert Bleakley said of the Coast Guard. "I think they were not to be found."

The lone survivor so far, Nick Schuyler, was conscious but appeared weak as he was loaded onto a stretcher Monday. His father, Stuart Schuyler, said the former University of South Florida player was bruised and dehydrated but "looks OK." His condition was upgraded Tuesday morning from serious to stable.

Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been hanging onto the hull that a Coast Guard cutter discovered 35 miles off Clearwater.According to Captain Close, Schuyler said the men were attempting to raise the boat's anchor around 5:00 p.m. Saturday when their boat capsized.

None of the men was wearing a life jacket, and they had to swim beneath the vessel to retrieve the vests.It's believed the three missing men were wearing their life jackets when they slipped away from the boat at some unknown point.Nick Schuyler's mother, Marsha Schuyler, said her son told her he survived by thinking about how he didn't want her to go to his funeral.The family's joy at him being found alive was tempered by the search for his friends.

"We still have three men missing, and we're not going to talk too much until we find these guys," said his father, Stuart Schuyler. "We're all praying for them. These guys are all very close friends."

Searchers had previously covered 16,000 square miles of ocean but the area being searched was much smaller since they found Schuyler, Close said.Bruce Cooper, the father of Marquis Cooper who is also a prominent sportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix, said in a statement Monday that the family has been overwhelmed with calls, e-mails and text messages from well-wishers. He and other family members were in Tampa awaiting news on the search.

"We remain hopeful that Marquis will be found and returned to us," Cooper said.Smith's family planned to drive Tuesday to Florida from Richmond, Va., after the snowy weather in the East made getting a flight impossible, said Yolanda Newbill, one of Smith's sisters. She said they have been in contact with the Coast Guard every few hours since the search began.

"We have total faith that (he) will be coming home," Newbill said. James Allen, a marine safety consultant who once worked search and rescue operations with the Coast Guard, said the chances of finding survivors diminish after people have been in the water three days.Survivors have been found who were floating for days, but he added "you just can't swim forever."

The four men 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 said it did not receive a distress signal.

The men were aboard an Everglades-manufactured boat, which is built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglass, making it difficult to sink. The weather had improved, with waves subsiding to 6 to 8 feet, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barron said.However, Bob Zales, president of National Association of Charter Boat Operators, said waves that high can capsize a boat the size of Cooper's.

"A boat that size, personally, I wouldn't get out any farther than 20 or 30 miles offshore," Zales said. "But I see people all the time 40, 50 miles offshore."

Carson Chambers has coverage from St. Petersburg...

Schuyler Found; 3 Others Still Missing Off Florida Coast

((HT: Tampa Tribune/Johnson, Morelli, Thompson, Poltilove))

The U.S. Coast Guard found one of four missing boaters wearing a lifejacket and clinging to their capsized vessel in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles southwest of Clearwater and continued searching today for the other three.

Nick Schuyler ((pictured, thanks Tampa Tribune/Cliff McBride)) a former University of South Florida football player, was rescued and taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he was admitted in serious but stable condition.

His father, Stuart, said this afternoon that his son was dehydrated and his body temperature was below normal. He had some scrapes and bruises, but, his father said, "He should be OK."

He was with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith and Will Bleakley, another former University of South Florida football player when the four left on a fishing trip about 6:30 a.m. Saturday and did not return.

Schuyler arrived at Tampa General via Coast Guard helicopter 1:18 p.m. dressed in a blue Coast Guard jumpsuit. Stuart Schuyler said his son was heavily medicated and was difficult to understand. He did not say how the boat was capsized.

At the hospital, Schuyler was helped into a gurney and appeared to have a scrape on his right ankle but was otherwise alert and talking to emergency personnel.

Stuart Schuyler said his son had been in the water since Saturday afternoon. He did not recall the exact conversation they had when he first saw his son, but he remembered his son saying, "Hi, Pops."

Schuyler's mother, Marcia, went to see her son as soon as he was brought into the hospital. She said he told her, "'Mom, I kept saying you are not going to my funeral.' And that's what kept him hanging on," she said.

When she got the call from the Coast Guard that her son had been rescued, "I passed out," she said. "I went down. You couldn't ask for a better ending for us."

Her husband said the family is thinking of the others.
"Our hearts are going out to the three men still missing," he said.

Bleakley's mother, Betty, said Schuyler's rescue is wonderful news.
"That definitely gives us all hope, for sure, that they found the boat and can narrow the search down," she said. Her family is "just waiting and hoping for the best."

Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said Schuyler told rescuers the boat was anchored when it overturned, but it was not at anchor when a spotter aboard the cutter Tornado found Schuyler.
Ray Sanchez, Cooper's cousin, said the Coast Guard told family members all four men were together about 12 hours after the boat flipped but three drifted away. All were wearing lifejackets.

Cooper's boating experience gives the family hope, he said.
"If he wasn't experienced and didn't know what he was doing, maybe we'd worry," Sanchez said. "We're confident he's going to come home. He'll be back, definitely."

The boat was found south of where the four men intended to go fishing and was not in the area the Coast Guard focused the original search, which began at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Close said the Coast Guard is searching a smaller area based on where the boat was found. Originally, computer models used to predict where a boat would drift sent searchers northeast.
The original search pattern was established based on where the fishermen intended to go but there was no way the computer models could tell where the boat was when it flipped, Close said.
Two Coast Guard investigators will try to interview Schuyler to get more information that will help pinpoint the search.

"We told the family members of all on board. The Schuylers were very happy," Close said.

The original area being searched Sunday, about 750 square miles west of Clearwater, had "about tripled" this morning, Coast Guard Petty Officer Sondra Kneen said.

The Coast Guard had searchers flying over the area in two helicopters and two airplanes and three in the water on a variety of vessels, including an 87-foot cutter, she said. Aircraft from other agencies are involved as well, like a U.S. Air Force C-130 from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and a 179-foot Coast Guard Cutter from Pascagoula, Miss.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission joined the search this morning.
"We've got one boat and two officers out right now," commission spokesman Gary Morse said. "We're searching the inshore coastal waters."

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office also searched near shore.
He said the search extended south from where the missing men put in, but high winds and seas made it difficult for rescuers.

Close said the water in the search area today was 68 degrees.
At that temperature, a typical person can expect to float two to seven hours before exhaustion or unconsciousness sets in, and if the person is not wearing a life vest, he or she subsequently drowns, said Randy Boone, who used to work as a senior chief aviations survivalman with the coast guard until he retired in 1996.

With a life vest, a person will survive for a little bit longer, he said.
"Everybody's body is going to react differently," said Boone, who now designs and sells personal beacon locators that boaters can wear as a fanny pack or attach to their life vests.
"The guys they're looking for out there are in real good shape."

Even so, Boone gives the three men a low level of survivability unless, like their friend, they found a way to get out of the water and climb onto something. A hypothermia chart used by rescuers says the longest someone can last in 68-degree water is 40 hours.

The coast guard calculates survivability when they decide how long to search for someone, Boone said. The Coast Guard's search was hampered Sunday by bad weather conditions, including gusting 30-mph winds and 14-foot seas. On Sunday morning, the Coast Guard pulled in its 47-foot rescue boat because the rough seas.

Close said Sunday there was no communication with the men even before the weather started to worsen, and no SOS call was received.

"That's not to say they didn't send one out," he said. "We didn't receive anything."

The men were in a 21-foot, center console boat manufactured by Everglades Boats, Close said Sunday. The company advertises that because of the construction technique, the vessels are difficult or impossible to sink, he said.

On its Web site, the company also says the construction process "makes Everglades Boats unsinkable."

Cooper owns the boat, and he and Smith have been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent. The pair had been teammates with the Bucs in 2004.

Del Duca said Smith is 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.

Cooper, who played at the University of Washington, told The Seattle Times in 2002 that one reason he chose the Seattle school was the abundant fishing nearby.

"I like fighting the fish," Cooper told the newspaper. "And just relaxing out there and being alone and being outside."

Cooper grew up in Arizona, and his father is a sportscaster in Phoenix. Bruce Cooper described his son as an avid fisherman who goes deep sea fishing "any opportunity he gets." The two went deep sea fishing together two years ago.

"I swore I would never do so again," Cooper said in a statement. "I didn't like the fact that I couldn't see land. Needless to say I am very concerned. I am praying and hoping for the best."

USF coach Jim Leavitt said his program is in shock. Bleakley, a tight end who went to Crystal River High School, played with the Bulls from 2002 to 2006. Schuyler was a walk-on defensive lineman in 2006 but never played in a game.

Searchers were encountering rough seas today, especially more than 20 miles from shore, though not as bad as Sunday, and conditions will slowly improve through the day.

Waves this morning range from about six feet close to shore to 10 feet more than 20 miles from the coast, and the National Weather Service says a small craft advisory remains in effect until 10 p.m.As the day goes by, waves could drop to three to seven feet, weather service meteorologist Charlie Paxton said.

Water temperatures in the Gulf are in the 60s, he said.

The search started 50 miles offshore because a family member provided GPS coordinates of a place the men have fished in the past.

Here's the afternoon presser update from the Coast Guard, thanks to our friends from ABC 28...

2 NFL Players Missing Off Gulf Coast

Neil Johnson of the Tampa Tribune tells us about two former Buccaneers players who, along with two others are lost at sea...

Sports agent Ron Del Duca confirmed to the Associated Press Sunday that Corey Smith and Victor "Marquis" Cooper ((pictured, thanks tbo.com)) - both clients of Del Duca - were among those reported missing.

The Coast Guard was alerted about 1:30 a.m. today when the boat did not return as expected. The search started about 2 a.m., centered about 50 miles from Clearwater Pass. The search area covers about 750 square miles. The search involves a 47-foot boat, a helicopter, airplane and cutter, the Coast Guard said.

Searchers are encountering winds of about 45 mph and waves ranging from 6 to 10 feet high with white caps.

Cooper, 26, is a former University of Washington standout and was a third round draft pick by Tampa Bay in 2004. Cooper appeared in 26 games for Tampa Bay between 2004 and 2005 and finished with 27 tackles. He bounced around from Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Seattle in 2006 and played for Jacksonville and the Steelers in 2007. Last season, Cooper appeared in eight games for Oakland and made one tackle in the Raiders' season upset victory against Tampa Bay, knocking the Bucs out of playoff contention.

Smith joined Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He appeared in six games as a rookie and was a member of Tampa Bay's Super Bowl team that season. He spent the following two seasons in Tampa before playing for San Francisco in 2004 and 2005. The 29-year old spent the last three seasons in Detroit, appearing in 36 games with six starts.

Former Tampa Bay linebacker Ryan Nece knows Cooper and Smith extremely well. Nece played with both while a member of the Buccaneers from 2002-08. As a player for the Detroit Lions last season, Nece spent that season playing alongside Smith again.

"As soon as I heard the news, I felt it like they were people in my own family," Nece said. "Those are two guys I really respect and two guys who are just blue collar good guys. They work hard. They are family guys.

"They are simple guys who just like to go out on a boat and just hang out and relax. They are not flashy. They are the opposite of what a football player's image is portrayed to society. They are really good guys.

"I'm just praying for them and everybody is praying that it turns out a different way."

The boaters left while weather conditions were forecast to grow worse by Saturday night. At 4:30 a.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service marine forecast said a small craft advisory, meaning winds were expected to top 20 mph, would likely be issued Saturday night. At 3:30 p.m. Saturday the weather service also warned of high winds and rough seas.

Here's coverage from ABC 28 in Tampa...