Report: NFL player's boat found; at least 1 survivor

[A.E]

The Coast Guard found the overturned boat belonging to an NFL player off Florida's Gulf Coast on Monday, and has rescued one of the four men aboard.

Corey Smith, a free-agent defensive end who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and Marquis Cooper, an Oakland Raiders linebacker, as well as former University of South Florida players Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler left on a fishing trip early Saturday. Weather conditions worsened through the day and the men did not return as expected in the evening.

The Coast Guard says Schuyler was the man rescued Monday, and Cooper, Smith and Bleakley, remain missing.

TV footage shows Schuyler being helped from a Coast Guard helicopter at Tampa General Hospital. He appeared conscious and talking.

According to Ray Sanchez, a cousin of Cooper who is at the Clearwater boat ramp where the men were last seen and has been getting updates from family, Schuyler is was found west of Tampa Bay, clinging to the boat, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

According to the Times, Schuyler has been taken to Tampa General Hospital, and he is alive and talking.

Sanchez told the Times his cousin is a strong swimmer and had a life vest with him.

"I know my cousin, so he's coming back,'' Sanchez said. "A lot of people have been calling, been texting, a lot of everything. Thank you for all of that to everybody. Keep praying ... We have three more to go."

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

The men were reported missing Sunday, and the Coast Guard had searched about 16,000 square miles of ocean for the 21-foot Everglades-manufactured boat by Monday morning.

Everglades boats are built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglas, which makes them difficult or impossible to sink.

Petty Officer Sondra-Kay Kneen confirmed searchers located a boat. No further details were available.

Waves had subsided to 6 to 8 feet, still enough for a small craft advisory, but considerably smaller than the 15-foot waves Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barron said.

Family members believed the men had lifejackets and flares on board. The Coast Guard had not received a distress signal from the men.

Cooper owns the boat, and he and Smith, who were teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004, have been on fishing trips before, according to Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent.

Coast Guard Capt. Timothy M. Close said at least one of the men was an experienced boater, and relatives provided the Coast Guard with GPS coordinates from previous fishing expeditions.

The 29-year-old Smith of Richmond, Va., is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds and had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions.

Cooper, 26, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, has spent five seasons with five different teams, appearing in 26 games with the Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005, but playing sparingly since. He grew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and his father Bruce is a prominent sportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix.

Bruce Cooper said his son goes deep-sea fishing "any opportunity he gets." He joined his son in an excursion two years again and "swore I'd never do so again," Cooper said in a statement.

"Needless to say I am very concerned," he sad. "I am praying and hoping for the best."

Stu Schuyler, Nick's father, said his son had gone fishing with the same group last weekend. He said he left his son a message on his cell phone Saturday morning, asking him not to stay out too late because of the approaching storm.

"I'm optimistic," Schuyler said. "But I'm also realistic."

The Lions and Raiders issued statements saying their thoughts and prayers are with the families of all the missing men and those involved in the search.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

 

[RipCity32]

Hope they find them :/

 

[Lake Louise]

I saw the boat, and saw Schuyler behind the flipped over boat, and it made me even more worried. It`s not that uncommon for this to happen though, so they said, but since two of them are of highly known status, it brings more attention.