Fingon Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 COAST GUARD FINDS BOAT WITH PERSON CLINGING TO IT Posted by Mike Florio on March 2, 2009, 12:29 p.m. In the end, it might be a very good thing that the Coast Guard opted not to call off the search for the four men (and two NFL players) who went missing at sea in a 21-foot fishing boat. According to Bay News 9, the Coast Guard has found an overturned boat with a person clinging to it. Assuming that it was the same boat that was carrying Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, Lions defensive end Corey Smith, Nick Schuyler, and William Bleakely, it is a sliver of good news amid a tragedy, because it means that three of the men have been lost. Stay tuned for more. UPDATE: The person who has been found reportedly is Nick Schuyler. http://www.profootballtalk.com/category/rumor-mill/ extremely sad news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffalo Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Just caught the end of it, coast guard helicopters are bringing in survivor (s) from the area where the boat was suspected missing. No confirmation whether the people they have on bard are the players or the other former players that were rescued. Trying to find link now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKOOBY Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Oh no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 These threads should be pinned and consolidated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Real Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt. Dan's Revenge Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Not the best news that anyone could've hoped to hear.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPicc2114 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Maybe the guy they found knows what happened to everyone else.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 COAST GUARD FINDS BOAT WITH PERSON CLINGING TO ITPosted by Mike Florio on March 2, 2009, 12:29 p.m. In the end, it might be a very good thing that the Coast Guard opted not to call off the search for the four men (and two NFL players) who went missing at sea in a 21-foot fishing boat. According to Bay News 9, the Coast Guard has found an overturned boat with a person clinging to it. Assuming that it was the same boat that was carrying Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, Lions defensive end Corey Smith, Nick Schuyler, and William Bleakely, it is a sliver of good news amid a tragedy, because it means that three of the men have been lost. Stay tuned for more. UPDATE: The person who has been found reportedly is Nick Schuyler. http://www.profootballtalk.com/category/rumor-mill/ extremely sad news Very. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomcat Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 CLEARWATER, Florida (CNN) -- The Coast Guard has found an overturned boat with one person clinging to it in waters where authorities have been searching for four missing boaters, the Coast Guard said Monday. Corey Smith, left, and Marquis Cooper are two of the men missing in Florida, officials said. Corey Smith, left, and Marquis Cooper are two of the men missing in Florida, officials said. The missing boaters include two NFL players. The Coast Guard said it does not know whether the boat it found is the one it has been searching for, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless. The identity and condition of the person found with the boat was not known, Harless said. Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and NFL free agent Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions for the past three seasons, have not returned from a fishing trip Saturday in water off Clearwater, family members and colleagues said Sunday. The search, which began early Sunday, now involves three Coast Guardcutters, three C-130 Hercules airplanes and three helicopters combing 16,000 square miles of open water in the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles west of Clearwater Pass, according to a Coast Guard statement. The search area Sunday was just 750 square miles. The Air Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing, based at Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base, sent a C-130 airplane and a HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter to join the effort Monday, the Air Force said. Don't Miss * WDIV: Lions DE among missing off Fla. coast * KTVU: Raiders LB, other boaters missing Rough seas and high winds that hampered the search Sunday continued Monday. The Coast Guard reported winds of 15 to 20 knots and waves up to 9 feet in the search area Monday. "It feels like my greatest fear coming true -- it doesn't feel real," Cooper's wife, Rebekah, told CNN affiliate WTSP in Tampa on Sunday afternoon. "I'm just waiting for a phone call." Video Watch relatives, friends express concern for missing boaters » Cooper said she became worried Saturday night when she didn't hear from her husband who, along with his friends, had left on the trip in the early morning hours. She called her husband's fishing buddy, 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. "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. The four men -- Cooper, Smith and former University of South Florida football players Nick Schuyler and William Bleakley -- embarked in a 21-foot single-engine boat from the Seminole Boat Ramp about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard said. "Yesterday the weather conditions were relatively good, but the weather picked up overnight," Coast Guard Capt. Tim Close told reporters Sunday afternoon. "It's a small vessel for the conditions that are out there right now." 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 Rebekah. His son "routinely stays out on the water 12-14 hours," Bruce Cooper, a sports anchor for CNN affiliate KPNX in Phoenix, Arizona, said in a written statement. Close said authorities had not received a distress signal from the boaters. He 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." This particular boat, a center-console vessel manufactured by Everglades Boats, is billed as "unsinkable," Close added. 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." Smith and Cooper were teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for part of the 2004 season, when Cooper was a rookie, according to the NFL's Web site. Smith, who entered the league with Tampa Bay in 2002, went on to play for the Washington Redskins before moving to the Lions for the 2006 season. Cooper has played for six teams in his five-season career. Bleakley lettered from 2004 to 2006 as a tight end for USF, and Schuyler was a walk-on defensive end in 2006, but he never played in a game, according to a spokesman for the university's athletics department. advertisement 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. The Coast Guard asked anyone with information on the boaters to contact its St. Petersburg, Florida, office at 727-824-7506. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Very sad news. And I will take this moment to get preachy... Because it does save lives... I hope they were wearing their PFD's (at least something!) when seas got rough... I never understand why more people don't wear them. They may not be the be all and end all in saving a life... But it comes close... And even if one doesn't survive the ordeal, at least it gives one's family closure because a body can be recovered. There is a reason why a Type I PFD is call an off-shore vest ("Mae West") and Type II PFD is a near-shore vest. I am calling into question what kind of plans and equipment they had onboard? It never amazes me the risks some take... Such a small craft to be that far off-shore... Again... Very sad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewin Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Don't know all the details of this - but were the weather conditions that day bad enough that they shouldn't have gone? I assume it is the captain's responsibility to check the weather and make sure everything is safe - is it common for these kind of charters for the owners/captains to take chances? (we go to the coast a lot, and I have gone on a few onshore charters - but I am always wary of the ones that go way out just because of something like this...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Also marine band two-way radio? Also, an Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon, or EPIRB Betcha this could have been avoided. Makes it doubly sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Very sad news. And I will take this moment to get preachy... Because it does save lives... I hope they were wearing their PFD's (at least something!) when seas got rough... I never understand why more people don't wear them. They may not be the be all and end all in saving a life... But it comes close... And even if one doesn't survive the ordeal, at least it gives one's family closure because a body can be recovered. There is a reason why a Type I PFD is call an off-shore vest ("Mae West") and Type II PFD is a near-shore vest. I am calling into question what kind of plans and equipment they had onboard? It never amazes me the risks some take... Such a small craft to be that far off-shore... Again... Very sad news. They were, according to the guy who was rescued. http://www.freep.com/article/20090302/SPOR...linging+to+side The Coast Guard Monday found an overturned boat floating in the Gulf of Mexico with one of four missing fishermen clinging to the side. The rescued man told authorities his three still-missing companions — two of them NFL players — were wearing life jackets when he last saw them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 4 guys. 21 foot boat. bad karma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 4 guys. 21 foot boat. bad karma. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 ? way too small a boat for those conditions, that far out at sea, with 4 people in it. Bad judgement. This comes from a fellow fisherman. Very sad news. Well the silver lining was one person was saved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 My friend had a 20 footer. We put in the water at the Small Boat harbor. We got to the breakwater entrance and saw 4 foot waves on Lake Erie. We went and anchored in a sheltered area inside the breakwater for a few hours and ate lunch. There was no way we were going out in those waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Mud Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 way too small a boat for those conditions, that far out at sea, with 4 people in it. Bad judgement. This comes from a fellow fisherman. Very sad news. Well the silver lining was one person was saved I agree with you, however, having lived in that area, i can tell you the weather can turn very quickly, and i have been out that far is small boats before with no ill effects. And as you know the lure of big fish and a good time can sometimes lead to deadly circumstances, lets just hope they are still holding on sonewhere, somehow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff28 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Just found Marquis Cooper alive according to St. Petersburg channel 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millbank Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Tampa news story does say men were wearing life jackets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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