Private Search for NFL Players Wanes

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»

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»

(NEWSER) - The fishing boat that capsized earlier this month leaving three football players presumed dead was improperly anchored, the AP reports. After interviewing the lone survivor, a Florida agency has determined that when the passengers attempted to free the anchor by gunning the boat’s motor, the craft was swamped and the men thrown into the water. Inexperience, carelessness, and an approaching storm were also cited. More»

(AP) - The family of NFL player Marquis Cooper said today they have decided to discontinue their search for the 26-year-old man and two friends still missing in the Gulf of Mexico. In a statement, Bruce Cooper said his family is beginning the healing process, and needs time to be together and remember his son. Cooper described his son as a great father and husband. More»

(NEWSER) - The apparent lone survivor of the boat accident that has left three football players missing gave investigators a harrowing version of his ordeal, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Nick Schuyler says the two NFL players with him gave up hope within hours of each other, stripped off their life jackets, and drifted off to sea. The third man, a former college player, swam away from the overturned boat two days later to get help when he thought he saw a light. More»