Missing NFL players boat is found, Man clinging to it

Corey Smith, left, and Marquis Cooper are two of the men missing, officials said.
BREAKING UPDATE:
The Coast Guard has found an overturned boat with one person clinging to it. It's unknown if it's the vessel of four missing boaters.

The Coast Guard vessel, Tornado, was traveling from Mississippi on a training exercise, but joined in the search. Coast Guard officials said another boat has left to aid in the search. Officials said if medical attention is needed, a helicopter will be sent out.


PINELLAS COUNTY (CNN) --The search for the four boaters missing in the Gulf of Mexico since Saturday night has expanded.

Two NFL players are among four boaters missing off Clearwater.

Coast Guard officials said Monday that three planes are searching the area and the Nantucket, a Coast Guard vessel from south Florida, has traveled to the Gulf and is now aiding in the search.

Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and NFL free agent Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions for the past three seasons, are still missing from the trip, family members and colleagues said Sunday.

Cooper and Smith both formerly played for the Buccaneers. Cooper was with the Bucs in 2004 and 2005 and Smith played for the team from 2002 to 2004.

The Coast Guard began searching around 2 a.m. after it learned that four men -- Cooper, Smith, and former University of South Florida football players William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler -- had not returned from their fishing trip Saturday evening as expected.

Rough weather has hampered the effort, but "it's still a very active search," Coast Guard Capt. Tim Close told reporters Sunday afternoon.

Poor visibility from heavy waves forced the search-and-rescue effort to be conducted primarily by air, though authorities deployed patrol boats as well, Close said.

Searchers have expanded their search to 1,600 square miles although they have focused on 750 square miles of open water in the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles west of Clearwater Pass.

From there, the men had left the Seminole Boat Ramp in a 21-foot single-engine boat about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard said.

Rebekah Cooper said she became worried Saturday night when she didn't hear from her husband. She called her one of her husband's fishing buddies, Brian Miller, who contacted the Coast Guard with the coordinates of where the men planned to fish.

"Usually I'm on the boat. It's a little difficult wondering if something would have been different if I had been there," Miller said. "Or who knows? They may be just sitting out there with a broken motor -- and that's what we're hoping for."He said it was clear something was wrong when Cooper didn't call Saturday night.


William Bleakley, from Crytal River, played football at USF.
"He should've been within range to use his cell phone, and he knows enough to shut it off when he goes out so the batteries are still there," he said.

Close said weather conditions were relatively good Saturday, "but the weather picked up overnight."

"It's a small vessel for the conditions that are out there right now," Close said Sunday afternoon.

Rebekah Cooper said her husband was aware of Sunday's weather forecast and for that reason picked Saturday for the trip.

"Fishing is his first love, it always has been," she said, adding, "I have a lot of faith in him out there."

Cooper's father said he learned of the situation Sunday morning from his daughter-in-law. His son "routinely stays out on the water 12-14 hours," Bruce Cooper, a sports anchor in Phoenix, Arizona, said in a statement.

Close said authorities had not received a distress signal from the boaters. Close said Cooper owns the boat.

Bruce Cooper called his son an "avid fisherman."

"He goes deep sea fishing any opportunity he gets," Cooper said in the statement. "Two years ago I went deep sea fishing with him. I swore I would never do so again; 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."

The boat, a center-console vessel manufactured by Everglades Boats, is billed as "unsinkable," Close said.

The Detroit Lions released a statement acknowledging that Smith was among the missing men, adding, "Our thoughts and prayers are with all the passengers, their families and all those involved in the search efforts."

Schuyler's father, Stu, told reporters that the four men knew each other from working out at a gym, and that his son had accompanied Cooper and Smith on a fishing trip last week that lasted 15 hours.

Bleakley lettered from 2004 to 2006 as a tight end for USF, according to a spokesman for the university's athletics department. Schuyler was a walk-on defensive end for USF in 2006, but he never played in a game, the spokesman said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Will and Nick, as well as the Florida Coast Guard as they continue their search," USF Athletic Director Doug Woolard said in a statement Sunday.

The Coast Guard asked anyone with information on the boaters to contact its St. Petersburg, office at 727-824-7506.