ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -Although Marquis Cooper spent only two months with the Oakland Raiders, he left an indelible impression that grew even sharper Wednesday as his teammates and coaches pondered his fate.
“His impact on this football team was tremendous, and not just as a football player,” Raiders coach Tom Cable said. “The type of man he is, and what he brought to this team, this locker room in terms of leadership … I think he was a part of the reason we kind of turned it around and had some success at the end of the year.
“We support the family right now. We support the players on this football team, and will continue to do so until we get some conclusion to this thing.”
Cooper has been missing since Saturday, when his boat overturned in rough seas off the Florida coast during a fishing trip with fellow NFL player Corey Smith and friends William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler.
Only Schuyler was found clinging to the boat’s hull Monday, and the Coast Guard called off its search Tuesday.
tement that if there was something there, (the Coast Guard) would have found it,” Cable said. “And yet, there are miracles, and I’m one of those people who believes in miracles. They said they found a cooler. Maybe there was another cooler there that one of them is holding on to. Who knows?”
Oakland signed Cooper in November after he shined among several tryout prospects when the Raiders went looking for a backup linebacker. He quickly fit in as a special-teams player, even receiving two game balls from Cable for his contributions during the Raiders’ late-season surge.
Cooper finished with five tackles in eight games, yet the Raiders said statistics didn’t define his contribution.
“He was an impact player with us, no question,” said Willie Brown, the Hall of Famer who coaches defensive backs and works in player development for the Raiders. “There’s hope he’ll be back doing the job again for us in the future. … We’ll hope that he shows up someplace. We’re not going to give up hope, that’s for sure.”
In his sixth season with his fifth NFL team, the former University of Washington standout clearly was grateful to be back in the league, and he made fast friendships in the Alameda training complex. His teammates and coaches knew him for an ever-present smile and enthusiasm for everything from the daily practice grind to game-day excitement.
e he was,” Cable said. “There’s a guy in the locker room that’s smiling every day. He comes to work every day. He enjoys the process. He enjoys the grind. He’s there supporting his teammates. Wasn’t playing on defense for us, but on special teams, he became a huge part of what we were doing, and in that light became a leader, someone I think people drew to.
“When you watch him walk in the building, in the locker room or go out to the field, he had that glow about him. That thing about, ‘You know what? I love what I’m doing. This is hard work, it’s not always fun, but I love what I’m doing.’ That attitude and that honorable approach, if you will, to what this game is certainly rubbed off on everybody.”
The Raiders are scheduled to report to Alameda for their first offseason workouts on March 16.
Raiders owner Al Davis and his organization have endured more than their share of tragedies in recent years, including the death of Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw last year.
Former Raiders running back Tim Hall was shot to death in 1998 in Kansas City, and safety Eric Turner died of intestinal cancer two years later. Darrell Russell, the headstrong defensive lineman and former No. 2 overall pick, died in a car accident in 2005.
. It’s different when you’re with the Raiders as opposed to other teams, because we’re more like a family.”
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