CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) – Coast Guard rescuers searched 16,000 square miles of ocean off Florida’s Gulf Coast but found no sign of a fishing boat carrying two NFL players and two other men Monday, a day after they were reported missing.
Corey Smith, a free-agent defensive end who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and Marquis Cooper, an Oakland Raiders linebacker, as well as former University of South Florida players Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler left on a fishing trip early Saturday. Weather conditions worsened through the day and the men did not return as expected in the evening.
of Clearwater Pass but were hampered by rough seas and weather.
By Monday, the harsh conditions were starting to subside. Waves were 6 to 8 feet, still enough for a small craft advisory, but considerably smaller than the 15-foot waves Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barron said.
Waters should continue to calm over the next few days, and normal wave height is about 2 to 3 feet, Barron said. The men were traveling in a 21-foot Everglades-manufactured boat, the Coast Guard said.
Everglades boats are built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglas, which makes them difficult or impossible to sink. Sam Arrants, a sales manager with North Florida Yacht Sales in Jacksonville, Fla., which sells Everglades boats, said even if the vessel doesn’t sink, it could be taking on water in such high tides.
“It might be capsized upside down, which makes it very difficult for anyone to hang onto,” he said.
Family members believe the men had lifejackets and flares on board, but the Coast Guard has not received a distress signal.
Cooper owns the boat, and he 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.
Coast Guard Capt. Timothy M. Close said at least one of the men was an experienced boater, and relatives provided the Coast Guard with GPS coordinates from previous fishing expeditions.
The 29-year-old Smith of Richmond, Va., is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds and had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions.
Cooper, 26, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, has spent five seasons with five different teams, appearing in 26 games with the Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005, but playing sparingly since. He grew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and his father Bruce is a prominent sportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix.
Bruce Cooper said his son goes deep-sea fishing “any opportunity he gets.” He joined his son in an excursion two years again and “swore I’d never do so again,” Cooper said in a statement.
“Needless to say I am very concerned,” he sad. “I am praying and hoping for the best.”
Stu Schuyler, Nick’s father, said his son had gone fishing with the same group last weekend. He said he left his son a message on his cell phone Saturday morning, asking him not to stay out too late because of the approaching storm.
“I’m optimistic,” Schuyler said. “But I’m also realistic.”
The Lions and Raiders issued statements saying their thoughts and prayers are with the families of all the missing men and those involved in the search.
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Associated Press Writer Sarah Larimer in Miami contributed to this report.
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