..please no "more salary cap room" jokes please

Former Bucs among missing boaters off Gulf of Mexico



Former Bucs among missing boaters off Gulf of Mexico
Reported by: Chad Cookler
Email: ccookler@abcactionnews.com
Last Update: 12:47 pm

(Petty Officer 2nd Class Kip Wadlow, U.S. Coast Guard) CLEARWATER, FL -- The Coast Guard is searching for a missing fishing boat about 50 miles off-shore in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to Coast Guard officials, the 21-foot fishing boat left from a boat ramp in Clearwater Pass Saturday about 6:30 am with 4 people on board.

Friends Victor "Marquis" Cooper, Nick Skyler, Corey Smith and a fourth person haven't been seen since.

At least 2 of the men are professional football players with ties to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cooper, whose truck and trailer is till parked at the boat ramp where the men left from, is a linebacker with the Oakland Raiders.

Smith is a defensive end for the Detroit Lions. Both began their careers with the Bucs.

Officials say the waters in the gulf are extremely choppy and they believe the boat is in distress.

Air and marine crews from the Sand Key and Clearwater Coast Guard stations are searching a 750 square mile area west of Clearwater Pass.




Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

I just saw this too. Eek!

Boaters and passengers go missing all the time - this is only in the news because NFL players may be on board

that's a pathetic reflection






not that I don't feel for those lost or their families - so don't go jumpin on me

I just read this on Yahoo

Mach said:

*me jumping on mach*

Mach said:

I totally disagree with you dude. Whenever there are regualar joes like
me and you that come up missing in boating mishaps, it's always reported on
the local news in my area.

The Lions shouldnt have had such a pathetic season.

phunkdaddy said:

They do here too. When there are missing boaters.

The boaters just happen to be NFL players. Not the other way around.

Marquis Cooper is a former Seattle Seahawk.

phunkdaddy said:

dudett - not dude

and i respect your opinion as much as mt own

UPDATE


TAMPA, FLORIDA (TICKER) —The Coast Guard has rescued one survivor from an overturned fishing boat discovered by crews searching Florida’s Gulf Coast for four missing persons, including two NFL players.

Nick Schuyler, a former football player at the University of South Florida, was found clinging to the side of the overturned boat, which was found Monday afternoon approximately 30 miles off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida.

The whereabouts of former Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith - currently a free agent - and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper still are unknown.

Schuyler, 27, was rushed via helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. Multiple reports have stated that Schuyler is alert and talking to his rescuers.

The Coast Guard consequently has adjusted its search based on the location of the overturned boat. Schuyler reportedly has told officials that Smith, Cooper and Will Bleakley - the boat’s other passenger - all were wearing life vests.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Simpson told CNN News that Schuyler claimed the boat was overturned by a wave and that all four passengers were clinging to the hull.

After receiving the report of the missing boat early Sunday morning, the Coast Guard began its search, which has covered approximately 16,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico.

Coast Guard captain Timothy Close said that the search has deployed three Coast Guard airplanes, two Coast Guard helicopters, a United States Air Force plane and numerous boats, including a 179-foot cutter that recently joined the effort.

According to a statement released Sunday by the Coast Guard, the boat left Clearwater Pass at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and did not return at its scheduled time later in the day.

The boat was reported missing at about 1:30 a.m. Officials stated that gulf waters were “extremely choppy” and believed that the boat was “in distress,” although Close said Sunday that no SOS call was received.

Close also acknowledged that the search was “hampered” by conditions, including wind gusts that reached up to 45 miles per hour Sunday and waves measuring between six and 10 feet.

Smith and Cooper were teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2004 season. Former Buccaneers linebacker Ryan Nece told the Tampa Tribune that he knows both Smith and Cooper, claiming that both players are “good guys.”

Smith, 29, appeared in 12 games with the Lions this past season, his seventh in the NFL. The Richmond, Virginia native has played 62 career games with Detroit, San Francisco and Tampa Bay, recording 8 1/2 sacks.

Cooper, 26, played in eight games with the Raiders last year. A native of Mesa, Arizona, he has played in 42 career games over parts of five seasons with seven different teams.

They're gonna end the search at 6:30PM EST today. Damn. Drowned/Lost at sea...That's a truly fucked up way to go.