NFL Players among three lost at sea

The United States Coast Guard called off a search for a 21 foot fishing boat that had capsized in rough water several days earlier off the Florida Coast.  On board were four passengers, including two NFL players.  Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, who owned the boat, and former Detroit Lions offensive lineman Corey Smith along with a former University of South Florida football player, William Bleakley, are all missing and now presumed dead.

The Coast Guard managed to rescue one of the boat’s passengers on Monday when Bleakley’s former South Florida teammate Nick Schuyler was pulled from the water.  He’d clung to the hull of the boat after it capsized.  According to Schuyler, the other three men who were wearing lifejackets were washed away from the craft on Sunday.   Schuyler is currently hospitalized in fair condition, and authorities are hoping to be able to speak to him at greater length in the next couple of days.

The four men had left Tampa for a fishing trip into the Gulf of Mexico and were 35 miles offshore when the weather took a turn for the worse and were swept from the boat.  According to Schuyler, the boat was anchored when it capsized and Bleakley had swum under the craft to retrieve the life jackets.  The Coast Guard had spent three days covering 24,000 square miles of ocean before calling off the search.

Robert Bleakley remembered his son with these comments:

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

Florida native Kevin Smith played on the Lions with Corey Smith last year and remembered his former teammate before emphasizing the potential danger of the sea:

“He was a good, quiet guy, who always put in an honest day's work”

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

Quarterback John Kitna was also a teammate of Smith’s in Detroit:

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

The Lions management released the following statement:

"We will continue to pray for a miracle, though we fully understand and respect the decision of the Coast Guard. We were thrilled yesterday with the news of Nick's rescue, and it gave all of us hope that Corey, Will and Marquis would also be found alive. While we still have that hope, we have begun to cope with the grim reality of this sad and tragic situation."