Missing boaters may include at least 1 NFL player

[rainbow4321]

Source: Anchorage Daily News

Coast Guard crews off Florida's Gulf Coast are searching for four missing boaters, including at least one that might play for the NFL.

The Coast Guard issued a statement saying Corey Smith and Victor "Marquis" Cooper were among the boaters reported missing Sunday morning.

Detroit Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said he had heard that Lions defensive end Corey Smith was aboard a missing boat, but hadn't been able to confirm it.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Sondra Kneen said she could not immediately confirm whether any of the missing boaters were NFL players.



Read more: http://www.adn.com/nation/story/706701.html

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More on the players possibly on board:

http://www.wxyz.com/news/story/Lions-Corey-Smith-Missing-in-Gulf/GJEJFkun8k2Exc3CISk5Tg.cspx

The Coast Guard is searching for a Detroit Lions player and three others missing after they didn't return from their fishing trip in Florida.

Coast Guard officials say they're searching for Lions defensive end Corey Smith, and three others, including Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.

The Coast Guard received a call about 1:30 a.m. Sunday that the four people did not return from their fishing trip as expected.

http://detfan1979.blogspot.com/2009/03/developing-lions-player-missing-in-gulf.html
12:25 - Tampa Tribune is saying Corey Smith, Nick Skyler, Victor Cooper, one other. That is not confirmed, no link at this point. However, I saw where the coast guard is reporting the players as Victor "Marquis" Cooper, Nick Skyler, Corey Smith.

[KurtNYC]

1. Missing NFL player... that ranks second in importance, right below

missing blonde girl.

[OwnedByFerrets]

12. It means a lot to their familes....who, Im sure, are worried sick.

[Angleae]

20. That would be missing RICH blond girl

[sasquatch]

2. Man the Lions can never catch a break

:hide:

[ohio2007]

4. ...maybe they just did

:hide:

[NeoConsSuck]

9. 4 lives possibly gone

and yet, you post your insensitive drivel.

[Codeine]

13. Gallows humor.

A standard coping mechanism throughout the ages.

[ohio2007]

27. Hey,they signed their own death warrent .Grown men should have known better

only fools ( and pirates) would have done what they did.

Why give them a free pass now when on other sports threads, these same players would be bashed for the $$$ they make ?

dumb



thats why they are known as "Linemen"

eom

[ecstatic]

35. Did you have the same lack of compassion for the men missing on Mt. Hood

a couple years ago? Or is your harshness reserved only for NFL players?

[ohio2007]

24. Don't get out much do ya

know the difference between a grid iron and a waffel iron ?

[nyy1998]

22. I was thinking the same exact thing...

As if Detroit didn't have enough bad news to deal with.

[Serge A Storms]

3. the area has had strong winds and been under a Gale warning

taking a 21 foot boat into the gulf yesterday was foolish

[mackerel]

5. Plays for the Lions doesn't that say it all?

[NeoConsSuck]

10. see post #9, tard

[Ishoutandscream2]

11. Sad. I can only imagine if one of the missing people played for the Cowboys

or New York Yankees. This board would probably be gleeful.

[ohio2007]

28. I doubt many here would get the gist of your comment

just a hunch

[Ishoutandscream2]

31. Oh really?

I think they are a lot brighter than you think.

[ohio2007]

25. see post # 24 no lifer

[Hassin Bin Sober]

30. I don't appreciate your use of the word "tard" ..... Shame on you!!

[HooptieWagon]

6. Today is pretty rough to be offshore on a 21' center console.

And they were pretty stupid to not check or heed the weather warnings that have been out for several days.

[Sancho]

7. I was out in the same water this weekend in a 33' boat much better than theirs...

and it was too rough today for for that size boat. Gusts over 30. I hope they find them, but likely they were swamped or capsized. Weird if they didn't have a radio or cell phone or EPIRB (emergency beacon). You can call on a cell for several miles offshore. The CG in St. Pete monitors VHF. Most of the time when there is no call for help, it means they overturned or were swamped. If they were just drifting, they would have asked for help.

Of course, sometimes people will return and simply not tell anyone, but that doesn't seem the case if they were expected.

[Serge A Storms]

8. I don't think they returned , the local news had a pic of their truck and trailer still at the ramp

[Sancho]

14. If they left the trailer at the ramp then they are in trouble...

I saw 6-8 foot waves and we were back early. No 20' runabout would be no good in those waves. Hopefully, they'll find them hanging on to a capsized boat or something...

[Serge A Storms]

15. while I hope for th best 70 degree water 60 degree and falling air temp they cant last long

the fact they are in great shape will help but hypothermia will get them before long

[HooptieWagon]

16. Water temp is 62

Not looking good for them.

They were supposedly about 50 miles out - cell phones don't work that far, neither does a VHF. A permanent VHF (not a hand held) has a range to a base station of about 22 miles, and about 12 miles to another boat... both probably less if the boat is rocking around. And there probably were very few other boats out so relaying an SOS wasn't possible. And of course if the VHF got wet it would be useless. A hand held VHF only has a range of about 3 or 4 miles. I suspect they didn't have an EPIRB, as that likely would have gotten them help.

The boat is a 21' center console fishing boat - that is an open boat. No decks or cabin - probably has a self-bailing cockpit, but only a few inches above the waterline. Such a boat can be overwhelmed and capsized fairly suddenly in the current wind and waves.

[Sancho]

17. Yep...50 miles out would be quite a trip in that small a boat.

Even Saturday, the wind was 10 and all the predictions were for big weather. On tv they just said that the family provided coordinates of the fishing spot. If these links work, they are wind and temp at Clearwater.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/cgi-bin-mp/data_plot.cgi?mins=&datum=0&unit=1&stn=8726724&bdate=20090228&edate=20090301&data_type=wind&shift=&plot_size=large&metinterval=

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/cgi-bin-mp/data_plot.cgi?mins=&datum=0&unit=1&stn=8726724&bdate=20090228&edate=20090301&data_type=temp&shift=&plot_size=large&metinterval=

[Sancho]

18. This is the model boat they were reported to be in...

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2008-Everglades-211CC-10762256

Everglades 21'

That's a really small boat for big waves 50 miles out.

[whoneedstickets]

19. Looks like a Boston Whaler clone...

..I hope it has all the positive flotation that the Whalers have too.

[ohio2007]

26. four men, each @ 290 lbs in a tiny boat in high seas 50 miles out ?

for college grads............those horses didn't ad up to 1/2 a brain.

[Blue_Tires]

38. wow...what were they looking to catch that far from shore

in that small boat?

[Baclava]

29. I've got a 21' Cape Horn - I wouldn't go out 5 miles with any kind of bad weather coming

Too many things can go wrong. Electrical problems, fuel, engine problems. Then you are at the mercy of the waves. It only takes one wave over the stern to swamp your boat, then you are in deep shit, no matter how much flotation your boat might have. If they got rolled, there'd be no time to even grab a radio - you are just - gone. The high winds would only make it worse. It sounds pretty bad to me.

[bertman]

21. At least two NFL players plus two others in a 21' Everglades OFFSHORE. That is a bad

bad combo. Too much weight in a small boat in big seas.

Dog, I hope they beached it somewhere and just haven't called home yet.

[Jennicut]

23. This does not sound good for them...hope they are okay

Anyone lost at sea is a terrible thing....its very rough to make it when you are lost all alone on the ocean. My husband and his father once had a bad experience in the everglades. The engine on their little boat stopped working in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully another boat came by. I pray theses guys will be okay.

[Baclava]

32. Coast Guard finds one man clinging to boat

12:10 p.m.: A man has been found clinging to a boat about 30 miles west of the Tampa Bay area, Bay News 9 has reported.

The Coast Guard cutter Tornado found the boat and dispatched a smaller boat to rescue him.

12:27: Nick Schuyler is the boater who has been found, according to the cousin of Marquis Cooper, Ray Sanchez, who is at the Clearwater boat ramp where the men were last seen and has been getting updates from family. He was found 38 miles west of Tampa Bay alive and clinging to a boat, Sanchez said.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article980435.ece

[Sancho]

33. He said they were anchored and capsized...

the other three were separated from the boat. No word of life jackets.

[Sancho]

34. Here's a link to the one who was rescued....

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article980435.ece

[Sancho]

36. It's going to be cold tonight...so they need to be found soon.

I done a lot of off shore sailing. They did so many things wrong to even count. If they get back, I hope they learn from this. The CG here is pretty good.

The one survivor so far: stayed with the boat (good), had on a life jacket (good), and was wearing a foul weather jacket (good). Any one of those may have saved his life.

[DiverDave]

37. My sympathies to the family's

for losing them.
HOWEVER, they should not have been out in such a small boat.

If they had any sense at all, they would have stayed home.

They are gone, and it's nobody's fault but their own.

[Baclava]

39. Search has been called off

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard called off the search Tuesday for two NFL players and a third man lost at sea off the Florida coast after their boat capsized during a fishing trip.

Officials said the search would end at sundown, with Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith, who played with the Detroit Lions last season, and former South Florida player William Bleakley still missing in the rough, chilly seas.

"We're extremely confident that if there are any survivors on the surface of the water that we would have found them," said Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close, who added that searchers scoured the equivalent of 24,000 square miles over more than 60 hours.

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Things you think about after it's too late.

$500.



All vessels going offshore should use a 406 MHz Category I (float-free deployment) or Category II (manual deployment) EPIRB. The 406 broadcasts simultaneously on 406 MHz, 243 MHz, and 121.5 MHz, making your position known on both civilian and military homing frequencies.


http://www.landfallnavigation.com/-slb24.html