Search Ends For Missing Football Players in Boating Incident
posted 2009-03-15

By Angie Wiatrowski

On Saturday, Feb. 28 four men, two of which were NFL football players, set sail on Florida's Gulf Coast. They were expected to return at dusk. When they didn't, search teams were called out. Nick Schuyler, 24, was found two days later and is the only survivor. After several days of searching, the remaining three are now presumed dead. This includes Will Bleakley, 25, a former University of South Florida football player, Marquis Cooper, 26, an Oakland Raiders linebacker, and Corey Smith, 29, a Detroit Lions defensive end.

The incident had affected football fans and professionals all over. Analyst Michael Whooley from bleacherreport.com said,
"As time slipped by, so did the chances of survival and real grim reality had begun to set in. These three young men who were lost out in the ocean most likely would not be found. The hypothermia had most likely set in and their lives would be lost, if they hadn't been so already.
I started to think about if this had affected me like this, how must this be playing on the minds of their friends and family? Reality then set in."

According to NBC Sports, the search was called off on March 3, but the Cooper family remained optimistic and hired private pilots and charter boats to continue the search. They ended their search on March 6 and funeral services have already been held for Bleakley.