2 NFL players missing

[cbfalcon 824]

I wonder how fast these guys could swim the 40.

[porkbutt 864]

4 football sized dudes on a 21ft. boat going 50miles off in rough seas with no epirb or liferaft = stupidity

[Ravens 03 0]

Any update on the search for these 2 chums?

 

 

[SUXBNME 1,340]

Any update on the search for these 2 chums?

 

 

 

I heard it was going swimmingly.

[Ravens 03 0]

I heard it was going swimmingly.

 

Was one of them named Bob?

[cbfalcon 824]

You guys are just trying to bait each other with one liners, aren't you? Well I won't be sucked into this fishing expedition.

[SUXBNME 1,340]

You guys are just trying to bait each other with one liners, aren't you? Well I won't be sucked into this fishing expedition.

 

Too late. It seems like we already got you hooked

[cbfalcon 824]

Too late. It seems like we already got you hooked

 

Damnit! I guess I fell in hook line and sinker.

[wiffleball 4,649]

Any update on the search for these 2 chums?

 

 

 

On a quick serious note, it seems certain that these guys are dead. That sucks. They had great futures ahead of them - a great life. I don't mean to roon the jocularity, but right now there's some folks going through the loss of their loved ones. And that sucks. Sure, they're in a better place. You'd almost have to be when you're in Oakland or Detroit.

[SUXBNME 1,340]

 

 

 

On a quick serious note, it seems certain that these guys are dead. That sucks. They had great futures ahead of them - a great life. I don't mean to roon the jocularity, but right now there's some folks going through the loss of their loved ones. And that sucks. Sure, they're in a better place. You'd almost have to be when you're in Oakland or Detroit.

I don't know about Detroit, but Oakland is one of the worst cities that I've ever been in.

[wiffleball 4,649]

I don't know about Detroit, but Oakland is one of the worst cities that I've ever been in.

 

Been to both. Trust me, they could be neck deep in Phillybear's sphincter and be in a better place.

[SUXBNME 1,340]

Damnit! I guess I fell in hook line and sinker.

 

Luckily for you, the geek club practices catch and release.

[cbfalcon 824]

That DE was supposed to have one of the best swim moves in the league.

[heavy-set 39]

4 football sized dudes on a 21ft. boat going 50miles off in rough seas with no epirb or liferaft = stupidity

they had life preservers on.

 

one of thier fathers went fishing with them and said the boat goes out so far that you cannot see land. that pretty far

[porkbutt 864]

they had life preservers on.

 

one of thier fathers went fishing with them and said the boat goes out so far that you cannot see land. that pretty far

i go 70 off NJ routinely in a 30ft boat....but i wouldn't step foot on a 21 with 4 big dudes, no raft, or epirb going 50 . a raft and epirb alone would have reduced their risk 10000x

[rallo 132]

heard per ESPN earlier today that the coast guard was going to do one last sweep through the gulf and then give up search efforts... also the one guy they found said they all had life jackets on but got separated... does not bode well :sad:

[Headslap75 0]

You said one of the guys was a F/A??.......You don't think the SeaHawks wanna a little piece of that???

[NewbieJr 540]

You said one of the guys was a F/A??.......You don't think the SeaHawks wanna a little piece of that???

Rumor has it that it's a great time to be a Seahawks fan. Not sure why, though.

[Lionsjunkie 1]

This article really puts this tragedy in perspective

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-m...p&type=lgns

 

 

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP)—The Coast Guard’s three-day search for two NFL players and a third man sent adrift in chilly seas ended in futility, dashing hopes they might be found after rescuers plucked one survivor from the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Crews combed more than 24,000 miles of ocean before calling off their search Tuesday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley. The four friends had been missing since Saturday when their boat capsized during a fishing trip.

 

On Monday, Crews did rescue Bleakley’s former South Florida teammate, 24-year-old Nick Schuyler, who managed to stay with the 21-foot boat. But Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said if there were any other survivors, they would have been found.

 

“I think the families understood that we put in a tremendous effort,” Close said. “Any search and rescue case we have to stop is disappointing.”

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Searchers spotted no signs of the men except for a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat. Still, family members of Cooper—the son of Phoenix sportscaster Bruce Cooper—maintained hope at a Tuesday night prayer vigil in Mesa, Ariz., that he might turn up.

 

“Even if he goes on, he’s with the Lord,” said Cooper’s grandmother, Zelma Davis. “But we have hope we’re going to keep him.”

 

Bleakley’s father said he thought Coast Guard rescuers did everything they could, adding he had lower expectations after only one survivor was found Monday.

 

“I think they were not to be found,” Robert Bleakley said.

 

Scott Miller, a friend of the college teammates, said Schuyler told him that a chopper shone a light directly above them the first night. Schuyler also told him he even saw lights beaming from ashore.

 

It was Bleakley who swam underneath to retrieve three life jackets he could find, along with a cushion, a groggy Schuyler told Miller from a Tampa hospital. Bleakley used the cushion and the other men wore the jackets, Miller said.

 

But the waves were powerful, and after Cooper and Smith were separated from the boat, the college teammates tried to hang on.

 

“He said basically that Will helped him keep going,” Schuyler told Miller, who said he had known Bleakley since the sixth grade. “The waves were just so much. They never got a break.”

 

Family and friends embraced and sobbed outside the Coast Guard station shortly before the announcement. They left without talking with reporters.

 

“I’m sure that I’ll speak of Will like he’s still with us for a long time,” Robert Bleakley said later of his son. “He’ll be an inspiration for me for a long time. He always has been. I told everybody, I call him my hero.”

 

Lions running back Kevin Smith called Corey Smith “a good, quiet guy, who always put in an honest day’s work.”

 

Kevin Smith, a Florida native, said he has been fishing as far off the coast as the men were in boats smaller, the same size and larger than the watercraft that capsized.

 

“The No. 1 thing when you’re out there is, you have to respect the water,” he said. “I know those guys had safety vests. I’m trying not to even think about it. That’s a tough way to go.”

 

Quarterback Jon Kitna, a former teammate with the Lions the past three seasons, said you never expect something like this to happen to a guy you know.

 

“It’s a reminder of how life is fragile,” he said. “Corey was a great dude.”

 

The four men left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas strengthened, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. The Coast Guard said it did not receive a distress signal.

 

Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn’t prevent. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat.

 

Schuyler told the Coast Guard the boat was anchored when it capsized.

 

The Coast Guard hadn’t had more detailed conversations with Schuyler because of his physical condition, Close said. Schuyler was in fair condition and told hospital officials he didn’t want to speak to the media.

 

Cooper, who is 26 and owns the boat, was selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Washington. He played 26 games for the Bucs in his first two pro seasons, then led a nomadic NFL existence.

 

Cooper and Smith, 29, became friends when they were teammates at Tampa Bay. Smith signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2002, and spent last season with Detroit before becoming a free agent. The former North Carolina State standout recorded 42 tackles (28 solo), three sacks and 10 special teams tackles in 2008, his best NFL season.

 

Bleakley, a 25-year-old former tight end from Crystal River, Fla., was on the USF football team in 2004 and 2005. He had one reception for 13 yards in his career, which also included some time on special teams.

 

Stuart Schuyler said his son is an instructor at L.A. Fitness and had helped train Smith and Cooper.

 

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.

[GobbleDog 819]

As a lifelong fisherman who's fished miles out in the Gulf from a small boat many times, my guestimate what happened... agiant rouge wave hit the side of the boat while they were fishing and hurdled 2 of them to the other side of the boat. The total weight of the four football players was probably close to 1,000 lbs all on one side of the boat. Combined with a giant 15+ foot wave slamming into the other side... it's easy to see how that could capsize a small boat. At this point they're cold, soaking wet, exhausted, clinging to the side of an overturned boat, at night, with 30 mph winds and giants waves slamming into them. Those conditions would be excruciating and get worse as the hours past. It must have been so bad that two of them apparently lost hope and prefered death.

 

The remaining two hung on all through Sunday and it must have been really discouraging to see the sun set Sunday night without any sign of rescue. By Monday morning they had to wonder about the possibility of never being found. With that in mind along with dehydration and pure exahaustion, one of the survivors thought his only chance was to swim for help and was delusional enough to believe it was possible. Apparently rescuers found the boat only hours after he swam off and likely drouned.

 

The main mistake in all this was the owner seriously under-estimated how easy it is to capsize a small boat. Sad story.

[wiffleball 4,649]

Well, there you go. The thought of being rescued and returning to OAK or DET was too much for them. At least one guy was an UFA. I bet if some other team had picked him up when FA set in, he would have had something to live for.

[GobbleDog 819]

You incensitive assh0les haven't changed one bit. Everything's just a big joke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port

Aboard this tiny ship.

 

The mate was a mighty sailing man,

The skipper brave and sure.

Five passengers set sail that day

For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

 

The weather started getting rough,

The tiny ship was tossed,

If not for the courage of the fearless crew

The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

 

[jgcrawfish 232]

As a lifelong fisherman who's fished miles out in the Gulf from a small boat many times, my guestimate what happened... agiant rouge wave hit the side of the boat while they were fishing and hurdled 2 of them to the other side of the boat. The total weight of the four football players was probably close to 1,000 lbs all on one side of the boat. Combined with a giant 15+ foot wave slamming into the other side... it's easy to see how that could capsize a small boat. At this point they're cold, soaking wet, exhausted, clinging to the side of an overturned boat, at night, with 30 mph winds and giants waves slamming into them. Those conditions would be excruciating and get worse as the hours past. It must have been so bad that two of them apparently lost hope and prefered death.

 

The remaining two hung on all through Sunday and it must have been really discouraging to see the sun set Sunday night without any sign of rescue. By Monday morning they had to wonder about the possibility of never being found. With that in mind along with dehydration and pure exahaustion, one of the survivors thought his only chance was to swim for help and was delusional enough to believe it was possible. Apparently rescuers found the boat only hours after he swam off and likely drouned.

 

The main mistake in all this was the owner seriously under-estimated how easy it is to capsize a small boat. Sad story.

 

One of the things I heard was that the boat was anchored. I'm not an avid boater, but isn't that one of the worst things you can do? In the thread on the main bored I also pointed out that I heard that two of them removed their life vests...prompting the WTF moment of my day...you're 30 miles off the coast and you take off the only thing keeping you afloat? that's nuts.

[cbfalcon 824]

The insensitivity here disgusts me. I'm not going to clam up and come down off my perch and flounder around this thread and read your crappie jokes anymore.

[GobbleDog 819]

One of the things I heard was that the boat was anchored. I'm not an avid boater, but isn't that one of the worst things you can do? In the thread on the main bored I also pointed out that I heard that two of them removed their life vests...prompting the WTF moment of my day...you're 30 miles off the coast and you take off the only thing keeping you afloat? that's nuts.

 

In terms of being rescued, having the anchor down definately increase their chances. Rescuers are much more likely to find a stationary boat than a drifting one. But I don't know if being anchored also made the boat more likely to capsize to begin with. I wouldn't think so, but I guess it's possible.

[jgcrawfish 232]

In terms of being rescued, having the anchor down definately increase their chances. Rescuers are much more likely to find a stationary boat than a drifting one. But I don't know if being anchored also made the boat more likely to capsize to begin with. I wouldn't think so, but I guess it's possible.

 

good point, and i honestly didn't hear if they anchored down before or after it capsized. I did hear that one of the guys swam under the capsized boat to retrieve lifevests for the others...but i still cannot fathom the decision to remove an in place lifevest.

[Incognito 0]

good point, and i honestly didn't hear if they anchored down before or after it capsized. I did hear that one of the guys swam under the capsized boat to retrieve lifevests for the others...but i still cannot fathom the decision to remove an in place lifevest.

 

Boat was anchored when it capsized.

 

HTH

[posty 2,296]

The NFL players gave up...

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504464,00.html

 

As the Coast Guard ended its search for three missing football players whose boat tipped over in high Florida seas, the lone survivor said two of those lost gave up after hours in the frigid water and the third tried to swim to safety.

 

South Florida player Nick Schuyler told investigators that all four of the friends on a fishing excursion were initially wearing life vests and clinging to the 21-foot boat belonging to Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.

 

But two to four hours after the boat capsized, one of the NFL players removed his life jacket and let himself be swept out to sea, the St. Petersburg Times reported. A few hours later, the other one followed suit.

 

"We were told that Nick said the two NFL players took their life jackets off and drifted out to sea," said Bob Bleakley, whose son Will Bleakley, 25, is also still missing.

 

After Cooper, 26, and Corey Smith, 29, were carried away, Bleakley and Schuyler hung on until morning — but then Bleakley decided to swim to get help when he thought he saw a distant light, the paper said.

 

He, too, took his life vest off, 24-year-old Schuyler told the families.

 

"I think he was delusional to think he could swim someplace," the Times quoted Bob Bleakley as saying.

 

Cooper's cousin Ray Sanchez said the Coast Guard recounted a similar story to him, but doesn't know whether it's true. Schuyler suffered from hypothermia and weakness, which could have affected his memory and thinking.

 

"We're not 100 percent sure where his head was at," Sanchez told the paper. "He'd been through a lot."

 

The doctor treating Schuyler said he was in good condition on Wednesday and had never been delusional during his ordeal.

 

"I don’t think he was thinking as well as you and I today," Dr. Mark Rumbak, the attending physician for the rescued boater, told reporters outside Tampa General Hospital. "But I don’t think he was delusional at all."

 

Rumbak attributed the fitness instructor's survival for 46 hours in 60-degree waters to the good shape he's in physically, his mental stamina, his experience playing college football — and luck.

 

"This guy is very tough mentally. ... If he didn't have that type of background, I don't think he would have made it," Rumbak said. "Still, I do think it's a miracle."

 

Also Wednesday, Florida Fish and Wildlife crews went out to retrieve the overturned boat and bring it back to shore — but they were running into snags, according to a spokesman.

 

"The boat has not been recovered. They’re having trouble out there," Gary Morse told FOXNews.com. "They flipped it over once, but it flipped back over. ... We've had trouble communicating with them that far offshore."

 

The Coast Guard ended its three-day search for the men Tuesday at sunset, dashing hopes they might be found after rescuers plucked Schuyler from the Gulf of Mexico a day earlier.

 

Rescuers combed more than 24,000 miles of ocean before calling off their search Tuesday for Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Smith and former South Florida player Bleakley. The four friends had been missing since Saturday when their boat capsized during a fishing trip.

 

Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said if there were any other survivors, they would have been found.

 

"I think the families understood that we put in a tremendous effort," Close said. "Any search and rescue case we have to stop is disappointing."

 

Coast Guard teams spotted no signs of the men except for a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat. Still, family members of Cooper — the son of Phoenix sportscaster Bruce Cooper — maintained hope at a Tuesday night prayer vigil in Mesa, Ariz., that he might turn up.

 

"Even if he goes on, he's with the Lord," said Cooper's grandmother, Zelma Davis. "But we have hope we're going to keep him."

 

Bleakley's father said he thought Coast Guard rescuers did everything they could, adding he had lower expectations after only one survivor was found Monday.

 

"I think they were not to be found," Robert Bleakley said.

 

Scott Miller, a friend of the college teammates, said Schuyler told him that a chopper shone a light directly above them the first night. Schuyler also told him he even saw lights beaming from ashore.

 

It was Bleakley who swam underneath to retrieve three life jackets he could find, along with a cushion, a groggy Schuyler told Miller from a Tampa hospital. Bleakley used the cushion and the other men wore the jackets, Miller said.

 

But the waves were powerful, and after Cooper and Smith were separated from the boat, the college teammates tried to hang on.

 

"He said basically that Will helped him keep going," Schuyler told Miller, who said he had known Bleakley since the sixth grade. "The waves were just so much. They never got a break."

 

Schuyler's doctor said he hasn't seen signs of post traumatic stress yet and doesn't believe that Schuyler has fully grasped the gravity of the situation — which is normal immediately after a crisis. But Schuyler knows his friends are lost, he added.

 

"I think he is aware of what happened to his friends," Rumbak said. "He said he was fine at this point in time. I don't think it's fully hit him yet." He said he was reunited with his girlfriend and "seemed quite happy."

 

Family and friends embraced and sobbed outside the Coast Guard station shortly before the announcement that the search had been called off. They left without talking with reporters.

 

"I'm sure that I'll speak of Will like he's still with us for a long time," Robert Bleakley said later of his son. "He'll be an inspiration for me for a long time. He always has been. I told everybody, I call him my hero."

 

Lions running back Kevin Smith called Corey Smith "a good, quiet guy, who always put in an honest day's work."

 

Smith, a Florida native, said he has been fishing as far off the coast as the men were in boats smaller, the same size and larger than the watercraft that capsized.

 

"The No. 1 thing when you're out there is, you have to respect the water," he said. "I know those guys had safety vests. I'm trying not to even think about it. That's a tough way to go."

 

Quarterback Jon Kitna, a former teammate with the Lions the past three seasons, said you never expect something like this to happen to someone you know.

 

"It's a reminder of how life is fragile," he said. "Corey was a great dude."

 

The four men left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas strengthened, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. The Coast Guard said it did not receive a distress signal.

 

Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn't prevent. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat.

 

Schuyler told the Coast Guard the boat was anchored when it capsized.

 

The Coast Guard hadn't had more detailed conversations with Schuyler because of his physical condition, Close said. Schuyler was in fair condition and told hospital officials he didn't want to speak to the media.

 

Cooper was selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Washington. He played 26 games for the Bucs in his first two pro seasons, then led a nomadic NFL existence.

 

Cooper and Smith became friends when they were teammates at Tampa Bay. Smith signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2002, and spent last season with Detroit before becoming a free agent. The former North Carolina State standout recorded 42 tackles (28 solo), three sacks and 10 special teams tackles in 2008, his best NFL season.

 

Bleakley, a 25-year-old former tight end from Crystal River, Fla., was on the USF football team in 2004 and 2005. He had one reception for 13 yards in his career, which also included some time on special teams.

 

Stuart Schuyler said his son is an instructor at L.A. Fitness and had helped train Smith and Cooper.

[brooksville 0]

I'm still wondering why these guys set out in the first place with that squall line moving in...why the hell didnt they check the weather???Definitely a sad story.

[GobbleDog 819]

I'm still wondering why these guys set out in the first place with that squall line moving in...why the hell didnt they check the weather???Definitely a sad story.

 

They knew. Who doesn't check a weather forecast before planning any long outdoor activity? Particularly off-shore fishing!?!!? No way in hell at least one of them didn't know in this age of internet and cell phones.

 

They probably just under-estimated the severity of it and/or stayed way too late.