2 NFL players among boaters missing in Florida

[CrimsonWhite]

CLEARWATER, Florida (CNN) -- Two NFL players are among four boaters missing since Saturday night off Florida's Gulf Coast, officials told CNN.

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 Saturday fishing trip in water off Clearwater, Florida, family members and colleagues said Sunday.

"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."

The Coast Guard began searching around 2 a.m. Sunday after it learned that four men -- Cooper, Smith, and former University of South Florida football players William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler -- had not returned from their fishing trip Saturday evening as expected.

Rough weather has hampered the effort, but "it's still a very active search," Coast Guard Capt. Tim Close told reporters Sunday afternoon.



2 NFL players among boaters missing in Florida - CNN.com

 

[CaféAuLait]

I'm having a hard time believing that these men did as the lone survivor ( Nick Schuyler ) said they did. They were missing for a few hours when Nick Schuyler said two removed their life jackets and just "gave up on life" smells fishy. The other one according to him removed his life jacket about 8 hours later to swim to a light.

Does anyone else find this a little strange? These men were football players and could not handle cold water for a few hours to the point they 'gave up on life" and let go fo the boat removing their life jackets to be swept out to sea?

FOXNews.com - Florida Boat Accident Survivor: 2 NFL Players Gave Up Hope - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News