2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters

[Dirty]

Agent: 2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper were among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida's Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard and Smith's agent said.
Smith and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass on Saturday morning for a fishing trip and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot motor-life boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass on Sunday.
Smith owned the boat and he and Cooper had been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.
Smith, 29, had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions. Smith, who is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, also played for the San Francisco 49ers and played college ball at North Carolina State.
Del Duca called Smith one of the "good guys" of the league and was planning to start visiting teams as a free agent this week. He said he has spoken with Smith's family and is also in touch with Coast Guard officials.
"They've assured me that they're deploying all available resources to look for these guys and get them back," he said.
Cooper, 26, has played sparingly in five seasons with the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Jaguars, Steelers and Raiders. Cooper, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, played college ball at Washington.
Rick Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tampa, said seas were about 2 to 4 feet Saturday morning and increased to 3 to 5 feet in the afternoon. Late Saturday night, a small craft advisory was issued, when winds were around 20 knots and seas were up to 7 feet or more. There were no thunderstorms in the area.
Davis said the water was "extremely rough and choppy" on Sunday afternoon.
Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said he had heard Smith was aboard a missing boat but hadn't been able to confirm it.
"We're aware of the media reports," Keenist said Sunday afternoon. "We're trying to find out what we can."
___
March 1, 2009 - 2:53 p.m. Copyright 2009, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.


Agent: 2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters | ajc.com

[Reno Paul]

Heard about it on the radio earlier.....I hope the missing boaters are found safely.

[Dirty]

Schuyler found clinging to boat\


TAMPA, Fla. -- A missing man found clinging to an overturned boat was rescued Monday off Florida's Gulf Coast, but the search continued for two NFL players and a third man aboard who didn't return from a weekend fishing trip.
[+] EnlargeAlexandra Zayas/St. Petersburg Times/Rapport SyndicationNick Schuyler is wheeled into Tampa General Hospital after being transported by a helicopter Monday.


Survivor Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida player, told rescuers that the 21-foot boat was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening in rough seas and that the others got separated from the boat, Capt. Timothy M. Close said. Since then, Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been hanging onto the boat found by a Coast Guard cutter 35 miles off Clearwater.
The boat belongs to Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, who along with free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley, remained missing. The search area is now "substantially smaller," based on where they found the boat and Schuyler, Close said. Searchers had previously covered 16,000 square miles of ocean, and the Coast Guard said it did not receive a distress signal.

The Coast Guard would not confirm a report saying Cooper had been found. According to Cooper's agent, Troy Asmus, a Tampa TV station erroneously told the family that Cooper had been located. The Coast Guard, at an afternoon news conference, said only one man had been found.
Coast Guard photos showed Schuyler wearing a yellow jacket and orange life vest and sitting on the hull of the capsized boat as a rescue cutter approached. A helicopter lowered a basket to haul him aboard.
Schuyler was conscious but appeared weak as he was being taken off a helicopter at Tampa General Hospital and placed on a stretcher. His father said his son was in serious but stable condition and that he "looks OK."
"He's got some cuts and bruises. He's dehydrated," said Stuart Schuyler.
Schuyler's mother, Marsha Schuyler, said her son told her that he survived by thinking about how he didn't want her to go to his funeral.
The family's joy at him being found alive was tempered by the search for his friends.
"We still have three men missing, and we're not going to talk too much until we find these guys," said his father, Stuart Schuyler. "We're all praying for them. These guys are all very close friends."


Cooper

Smith
Close said the Coast Guard would search for the men for "quite awhile."
Ray Sanchez of Tampa, a cousin of Cooper, said he was told the men were together "for a good period of time" after the boat flipped. He said the family was confident the Coast Guard would find them.
"My cousin's a powerful swimmer," he said.
The water temperature in the area was 68 degrees. After 18 hours in 64-degree water, hypothermia will set in, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class James Harless. How long someone can survive depends on how big the person is, he said. Cooper is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, and Smith, 6-foot-2, 250 pounds.
The four friends left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas got heavy, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. A relative alerted the Coast Guard early Sunday after the men did not return as expected.
The men were aboard an Everglades-manufactured boat, which is built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglas, making it difficult to sink. The weather had improved, with waves subsiding to 6 to 8 feet, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barron said.
However, Bob Zales, president of National Association of Charter Boat Operators, said waves that high can capsize a boat the size of Cooper's.
"A boat that size, personally, I wouldn't get out any farther than 20 or 30 miles offshore," Zales said. "But I see people all the time 40, 50 miles offshore."
Cooper 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.
The 29-year-old Smith of Richmond, Va., had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the Detroit Lions. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers and was a standout at North Carolina State.
Cooper, 26, played college ball at Washington, and has spent five seasons with five different teams, appearing in 26 games with the Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005. He's played sparingly since. He grew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and his father Bruce is a prominent sportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix.
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN.com's Bill Williamson was used in this report.




One missing boater rescued; search continues - ESPN

[cassiusclay]

crazy shit, sounds kinda fishy no pun intended

[Reno Paul]

Just heard on the radio that the Coast Guard has called off the search.

[Cooper]

yeah, they found a life jacket and a cooler.

There's no way those guys would still be alive now anyway.

Sucks that this happened, but they were irresponsible going that far out in that small of a boat. Also, and I'm shooting off at the mouth here, but they were obviously unprepared for an emergency. No live GPS transponder to be tracked, no way to call for help, etc.

As cold as the water is, 60 degrees, I'm surprised they found the one guy and I'm surprised he was in as good a condition as he was in.

[Gambling Fanatic]

Agree with Cooper here. Wasnt very smart going out like that.

[cassiusclay]

Schuyler allegedly told investigators that Cooper and Smith took off their own life jackets in a "bizarre story," according to the St. Petersburg Times.
"We were told that Nick said the two NFL players took their life jackets off and drifted out to sea," said Robert Bleakley, father of William, 25, told the newspaper.
According to the Times, Schuyler said that two to four hours after the boat tipped over in rough waters, one of the two NFL players decided he'd had enough. A few hours later, the second one did the same thing.
Schuyler also said that Bleakley's son, who had stayed hanging on the capsized boat with Schuyler, told him he saw a light in the distance and decided to try and swim for it, the paper reported.

[cassiusclay]

I'm calling "bullshit" that these guys took off their life vests...this whole thing sounds f'ed up.

[Dirty]

I am calling Bullshit as well

[cassiusclay]

this thing will turn into a movie when all the facts come out.

sounds like foul play....

[billsfan]

this thing will turn into a movie when all the facts come out.

sounds like foul play....

Why, what do you think happened?

[cassiusclay]

i would like to hear from someone with some real boating time, i just read this...

Coast Guard Capt. Tim Close said Schuyler told rescuers the boat was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening due to high winds and waves up to 15 feet.

[Micelli]

Really sucks. My honest opinion...

Anmial instict had to take over at some point. There was only room for one person next to the engine. U can't tell me there wasn't some type of stuggle to get up there, or to get whoever was up there off to save your own life

Only the strong survive?

[cassiusclay]

you gotta ask yourself one question: what were they still doing out there if the waves were up to 15 feet?

[cassiusclay]

The U.S. Coast Guard is unable to provide specific numbers of how many people go missing from boating accidents like this past weekend's, but officials say that since last fall there have been three people who have not been found after triggering Coast Guard searches.
Those incidents can range from an unaccounted swimmer to a passenger gone missing after a boat sinks, said O'Neil, at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington D.C.

[cassiusclay]

guys should have read this:

Boaters should wear a life jacket at all times, officials say, because an accident can occur so quickly that passengers may not have time to put their life jackets on. A life jacket that is bright or has deflecting tape to help catch the eyes of rescuers is recommended.
Boaters should also keep a bag with flotation and communication devices, officials said.
The Coast Guard encourages boaters to purchase Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacons (EPIRBs) that can cost between $200 to $1,500. This technology enables emergency signals to be sent out automatically or manually when a boat sinks. Some EPIRBs have global positioning devices that can help provide the rescuers with a more exact location.
After a boat capsizes, passengers should always stay near the vessel to make it easier for rescuers to find them, especially in waves and high winds. Whitecaps on waves can also confuse Coast Guard searches. Schuyler, who was rescued on Monday, was easier to find because he was near the boat, Coast Guard officials say.

[Dirty]

Incident report describes scene on NFL player’s overturned boat

The Associated Press
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tampa, Fla. — Two NFL players may have died just a few hours after the fishing boat they were in overturned in rough water, possibly before rescuers were even alerted that they and two others were lost off the west coast of Florida, according to Coast Guard records of the boating accident.
In a 23-page report provided to The Associated Press Monday under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Coast Guard documents two conversations it had with Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida player who was the lone survivor.
Enlarge this image
U.S. Coast Guard
Former University of South Florida football player Nick Schuyler clings to the engine of an overturned boat as the U.S. Coast Guard approaches.

• Photos: Player rescued
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  • Incident report describes scene on NFL player's overturned boat

Schuyler told them that one by one, the other men took off their life vests and disappeared during the ordeal.
The report says the group went roughly 70 miles — or 62 nautical miles — to fish for amberjack on Feb. 28. Also onboard the 21-foot Everglades boat were Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and former University of South Florida player William Bleakley.
The men’s names were redacted in the report.
About 5:30 p.m., the report said the group ran into trouble: Their anchor was stuck. Schuyler told investigators that he believed it was caught in a coral reef. They tried to free it, but water filled the boat and it capsized.
Tossed into the frigid waters, the men managed to grab their life vests. Schuyler said they held on to the boat for four hours. But as the night wore on, their resolve to hold on appears to have grown weaker and the effects of hypothermia were likely setting in.
Schuyler told the Coast Guard that one of the men “freaked out” and took off his life vest and disappeared that night.
Another one of the men started getting unruly and throwing punches later. Schuyler told the Coast Guard the second man also took off his life jacket, dove under the water and was never seen again. The third man thought he saw land nearly two days after the boat capsized and decided to swim for it.
Schuyler told investigators that man said his life jacket was too tight and he took it off.
Officials have said that they eventually found three life jackets; one on Schuyler; another near the boat and a third underneath it. The bodies of the three who disappeared have not been found.
It’s unclear how accurate the account is. Schuyler, who was found clinging to the overturned boat about 35 miles off Clearwater and nearly 48 hours after the accident, was suffering from hypothermia and he has provided different accounts to the men’s relatives. The family of William Bleakley, for example, said Schuyler told them that their son held on to the boat with his college teammate until he weakened and died. Schuyler has also said that Bleakley helped him survive, talking to him and encouraging him during their last night together.
Marquis Cooper’s father has also questioned Schuyler’s account that his son removed his life jacket.
As the men struggled in the water, their relatives grew worried. The group was expected home around sunset. One of the men’s family contacted the Coast Guard around 1:30 a.m. on March 1 and a search began.
The Coast Guard records document their repeated attempts — and frustrations — as they attempted tried to find the small white boat in a stormy sea with heavy cloud cover and whitecaps making it tough to spot the vessel.
Initial information the Guard received indicated the men were en route to a dive wreck about 58 miles — roughly 50 nautical miles — from Clearwater Pass, Fla.
One person who called the Coast Guard reported that one of the men, presumably Cooper, had one week left before he was expected in California for football practice. The caller, whose name was redacted from the report, said the group “could have possibly tried to go farther out to fish.”
One of the men’s wives was able to find a handheld GPS device that he had left at home and had apparently used in previous trips to record the coordinates of favorite fishing spots. The Coast Guard used that data to refine their search, placing the likely location of the men about 10 nautical miles south of their expected destination.
The Coast Guard contacted the men’s cell phone companies for help tracking their whereabouts, without success. They also sent them text messages, stating that, “the CG is looking for you request you to contact us immediately.”
“Being that these guys are inexperienced, don’t look just at 50 NM offshore, there might be a possibility that they wisened up and stayed close to shore, at least within visual of land,” a Coast Guard officer wrote in one e-mail.
The same e-mail added that, “It might be worth considering getting the story out to media earlier than later = more people on the lookout both on land and water.”




Incident report describes scene on NFL player's overturned boat | ajc.com

[Dirty]

Report: Boat not properly anchored


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Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. -- An agency investigating a deadly boating accident involving two NFL players and their friends in the Gulf of Mexico has concluded it was a caused when the vessel was improperly anchored and the boat capsized after one of them tried to throttle forward to pry loose the anchor.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's investigation also cited carelessness and operator inexperience as contributing factors. The combination of errors also came at the time a storm front was moving in, making conditions on the water very rough.
Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, and former University of South Florida players William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler departed from Clearwater Pass, Fla., early Feb. 28 to go offshore fishing for amberjack.
Schuyler, found clinging to the boat two days later, was the lone survivor. The other three men have not been found.
In an in-depth interview with the agency, Schuyler gave this account of the accident:
Early that morning, the men went more than 50 miles offshore in Cooper's 21-foot vessel. It was loaded with two large coolers filled with ice, drinks, food and beer. All of the friends were dressed in warm clothes, sweat suits and jackets.
Around 5:30 p.m., they went to pull up the anchor and head back to port, but the anchor was stuck. Bleakley suggested they tie it to the transom and use the boat's motor to pull it loose.
When Cooper tried to thrust the boat forward, the vessel became submerged and capsized, tossing the men overboard. They tried to upright the boat without success. Bleakley swam underneath and was able to retrieve three life vests, a large cooler and a makeshift flotation device.
Bleakley, who Schuyler has credited with saving his life, used the makeshift flotation device, which has been described previously as a cushion. The other three wore the vests.
The men appear to have tried everything in their power to rescue themselves: Schuyler told the agency they tried retrieving and using flares without success. They also tried getting their cell phones, which were in plastic baggies.
They knew how many hours were passing because Schuyler had a watch with a light on and was able to keep track of the time. He said that around 5:30 a.m. the next day, Cooper became unresponsive. Schuyler and Bleakley tried to revive him without success.
Cooper's flotation device was removed and Bleakley put it on. The Oakland Raiders linebacker then became separated from the boat.
About an hour later, Smith started to show "possible extreme symptoms of hypothermia." He removed his flotation device and also became separated from the boat.
The two college teammates were the only ones left. They hung on together for about 24 hours, until Bleakley grew weak and removed his life vest as well.
Schuyler said that his friend appeared to die as he was holding onto him. He let his friend go and Bleakley drifted away.
The Coast Guard released its records on the accident last week. According to the agency, Schuyler told them the boat capsized after their anchor got caught in a reef.
The accuracy of that account was somewhat unclear because Schuyler was suffering from hypothermia and spoke to them shortly after he was pulled from the boat. His doctor said he probably could have only lived another five to 10 hours.
The Coast Guard called off its search after three days of scouring 24,000 miles of ocean.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press




Report: Improper anchoring caused boating accident - ESPN