Coast Guard Seeks Missing NFL Players

Lion, Raider were fishing off Gulf Coast

(NEWSER) - The Coast Guard got no distress signal from a missing fishing boat carrying NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith and two friends off Florida's Gulf Coast, the AP reports. “That's not to say they didn't send one out," said an official. "We didn't receive anything”—nor was the vessel in touch before conditions got rough, he noted. The Coast Guard is “deploying all available resources” to look for the group, which was expected to return Saturday night, said Smith’s agent. More»

Family asks volunteer boaters to keep looking

(NEWSER) - The private search for two missing NFL players and their friend off Florida's coast is winding down, 2 days after the official rescue ended. The family of Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper asked volunteer boat captains to keep looking, but—compared to the dozens of boats combing the area yesterday—few are still out, the St. Petersburg Times reports. More»

Coast Guard search was called off yesterday, and they were presumed dead

(AP) - The families of the missing football players aren't giving up. Private boats and planes were searching today for two NFL players and a third man after the Coast Guard called off its search yesterday. The men—Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley—went missing four days ago, when their boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico. More»

(AP) - The father of an NFL player among three men lost at sea said today the Coast Guard's hopes of finding survivors off the Florida Gulf Coast are waning. Bruce Cooper, father of Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, says he still has hope. But the Coast Guard told families privately that officials weren't optimistic because of the timeframe and possibility of hypothermia. More»

Survivor told Coast Guard companions 'freaked out,' threw punches

(NEWSER) - Two NFL players may have died only hours after the boat they and two friends were on capsized, according to a Coast Guard report released to the AP. Sole survivor David Schuyler told the Coast Guard that one man "freaked out," took off his life vest, and disappeared after clinging to the boat for hours, while another later became unruly, threw punches, and took off his jacket before vanishing. More»