Monday, March 02, 2009

Football Players Missing At Sea

The Coast Guard was searching off Florida's Gulf Coast on Sunday for a fishing boat carrying NFL players Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper and Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler, both former University of South Florida players missing nearly a day in choppy seas. The four men were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass for a fishing trip Saturday morning and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass, but poor weather made the search difficult. Officials did not receive a distress signal from the missing craft.