Boat Accident Survivor Account Disputed

Father Of Missing NFL Player Rejects Idea That His Son Removed Life Vest And Gave Up

(CBS/ AP)  The father of an NFL player who has been missing nearly a week in the Gulf of Mexico after a boating accident disputes an account of the lone survivor, who said the football player gave up, discarded his life vest and floated away.

Family and friends refused to end the search for two NFL players and a third man missing four days in the Gulf of Mexico, enlisting private boats and planes to comb the waters off the Florida coast.

The only known survivor, Nick Schuyler, was rescued Monday.

The Coast Guard called off the official search Tuesday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and former South Florida player William Bleakley. The friends have been missing since their boat overturned Saturday in rough seas.

Cooper's father, Bruce, rejected Schuyler's version of events, saying his son was not the type to give up.

"I raised the kid. I lived with the kid. That's not his character," Bruce Cooper told The St. Petersburg Times.
"In my heart of hearts," the father said, "I just really believe that he's out there somewhere, just waiting to be found."
Hypothermia could have made Cooper and Smith irrational enough to remove their life vests or Schuyler confused about what he saw, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Authorities were done, but about a dozen charter boats motored out Wednesday, some with friends of the families aboard, to try to locate some signs of the men, according to dock workers at John's Pass near St. Petersburg. Three private planes also flew over the endless stretch of water, according to Cooper's father.

"Everyone around here, they've either known someone or heard of someone who's been lost out at sea," said David Scott, who works at a marina at John's Pass. "It's just one of those situations. Everyone really comes together in times like these."

Schuyler, the fourth man on the fishing trip and Bleakley's former South Florida teammate, was rescued after a Coast Guard cutter crew found him clinging to the hull 35 miles off Clearwater. His doctor said it's a "miracle" Schuyler survived in the 63-degree Gulf water for nearly two days.

Dr. Mark Rumbak said the 24-year-old was in good condition but will remain in intensive care in case there are complications. Schuyler probably could have lived only another five to 10 hours, Rumbak said.

"I think he is extremely fortunate," Rumbak said. "I can't explain it. Some divine providence, I really think."

Authorities located 26-year-old Cooper's 21-foot boat, which had drifted 50 miles west of Sarasota, said Jim Manson, an investigator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It took two private boats three tries to right the vessel and it appears to be in good shape, Manson said. Inside were 5-gallon gas cans, a life jacket, water bottles and some bagged sandwiches.

The boat was pulled ashore about 8:30 p.m. at a boat ramp in St. Petersburg. There was little visible damage, although an engine cover appeared to be missing, exposing wiring and parts.

The men left Clearwater Pass in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas got heavy, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet. A relative alerted the Coast Guard early Sunday after the men did not return as expected.

The missing men's families have set up an e-mail address for experienced pilots and boaters to contact them to help. Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said the agency wouldn't prevent private searches, but discouraged them, saying they could be dangerous. He said authorities believed if there were more survivors, they would have been found.

Free-agent defensive tackle Tank Johnson, a childhood friend and college teammate of Cooper at Washington, was taking a lead role in the renewed search. Johnson, who played for the Dallas Cowboys last season, said the family has not given up hope that the men are still alive.

"I truly believe he is out there somewhere being strong," Johnson said.

Raiders coach Tom Cable described Cooper as a good teammate and strong leader.

"In our opinion, they're still fighting, they're still battling, they're still doing everything they can to survive to be found," Cable said.

Even if the men aren't found alive, it's important to recover their remains so families can have closure, Johnson said.

"This kid is going fight to the bitter end," said Cooper's father, Bruce Cooper. "And so in my heart of hearts, I just believe he's out there somewhere just waiting to be found."

Schuyler told Bleakley's mother the harrowing account of the friends' fight for survival, describing how they swam back to the boat despite repeatedly being slammed by waves. Bleakley and Schuyler managed to stick together for about 24 hours and they talked about how they would live their lives differently, Betty Bleakley said.

"He said they huddled together, they just kept climbing back on the boat after getting knocked off," she said. "They fought. They fought."

She said her 25-year-old son's actions were heroic, including swimming underneath the boat to get life vests for the other men and then using a cushion for floatation himself.

"That was Will," she said. "Will was calm and levelheaded and would just try to think things through. As painful as it was talking to Nick, it's providing some closure for us."

[mynelle]

My heart goes out to the family and I hope that your family can find closure. All of these guy were good player and so sorry the world will be losing such great talent.

[jimbonic12]

With all due respect to the deceaseds' families, the survivor's account is probably pretty accurate. Waves of 7 to 15 feet are big and powerful, the men spent the night getting knocked about by them, the water was cold, they were probably terrified in the dark and couldn't see the next wave coming at them. And this went on hour after hour. I was swimming at an Atlantic beach on a day when the waves were maybe 6 feet. I got carried out by a riptide. Neck deep in the water the waves seemed huge, and at only 6 feet they were plenty powerful. Imagine having one bucket of water thrown at you. Now multiply that by 100,000.

[Alyeskanstill]

I hope everyone can understand the effects of hypothermia. It isn't enough to have "heart" or courage. The body must endure a lot: At stage three of hypothermia metabolic processes shut down, and the victim exhibits incoherent/irrational behavior.
It doesn't affect everyone the same way. Physical stamina would help, but in the end the brain has to be even tougher than the body. If you live in very cold climates then you can understand this and you can believe the survivor's story. I do.

[tdstudio55]

Life Jackets? Only God knows. too many different stories. However, I believe if these men had on their life jackets, they would not have taken them off. They are far too strong, & this story is by far too weak. Like many others, I believed, I would see them again. Now its hard to comprehend, that one innocent fishing trip could be so deadly & so real. These men were & are true icons. Although I am not into football, I felt a true connection for their achievements. They were taken from us & it feels unfair. For this I love them, & now always will, & they will forever be in my heart. God bless them.......Tony & Jennifer

[VTPatriot]

Death Happens

And will for long after we all die. No rhyme or reseason.

I send my prayers to all the families invovled.

PEACE BE WITH ALL

[jododger]

Let it go...Just because they are football players doesn't mean they control the weather /environment. Navy SEALS have perished in the ocean--- even the Navy only searches for 24 hrs. for sailors overboard. Please give the survivor time to deal with the tragedy and also the families. Nobody will ever know since we weren't there or experienced the cold/wind/waves...

[honestabe8]

"this is not the place or time to bring up your silly opinions about a higher power." - cedaliat

back at you

[Phxfire]

What is with you people? A father is coping with the inevitable as well as he can. He isn't sitting in a lazy boy somewhere, 'a better tomorrow'. He is up 20 hours at a time, comforting family, trying to stay upright and strong so they have someone to lean on, he is a father who won't give up on his son. If there is anything suspicious about this incident its the survivors story, not that these young men abandoned their lives and families. NOTHING in their life or actions points to anything like that happening. All of you sitting in YOUR lazyboys, all warm and toasty, drinking your beer and passing judgment are pathetic.
I'm sure your family is happy to read how you would abandon them so easily.

[cedaliat]

Reading some of theses comments I think it is safe to say that there are really some ignorant people around,If you dont believe in God that is your problem,you r the one who has to answer to him but this is not the place or time to bring up your silly opinions about a higher power.Everything happens for a rerason and if you were not so dumb you would know that everyone has a point in time to leave this earth and its sad to say unfortunately people like you days will be shorter,so grow up and to speak for the father that mess Nick is saying does not make sense and that man knows his son better than you me or nick so give them a lil respect if that was one of your family members,I guarantee you wouldnt be talking this trash God bless you cause you really need it.

[legacyabq]

It's easy to say his son would not give up while you're standing on dry land or sitting in a la-z-boy. Who knows the pain, hunger, dehydration or delusions that led those guys to call it quits. Whatever it was, they had enough. Maybe that's how he'll deal with his pain, to just deny it happened. Now that the father has lost his mind, you could call him the 4th victim. Too bad.
Posted by A_Better_Tomorrow at 10:20 AM : Mar 5, 2009

Very good point

[legacyabq]

Leave it to a Left Wing Athiest Loony Democrat to take a tragedy and turn it into Political Agenda.
Posted by demslie2all at 8:06 AM


Whos bringing up politics?? You are the only one who mentioned politics on this entire blog... Looney indeed..

I mean, look at your screen name.. You think everything is political, and you say that someone else is bringing up politics?

Some guy says God bless them all.
Where was God when they drowned??

Its a simple question, and you cant answer it..

Your simple mind just sticks the word liberal on anything you cant explain and then your empty mind is satisfied..
Thats some nice life you got there..
You must be soooo smart to have it all figured out:

ITS THE LIBERALS!!

Damn, you are an egergiously stupid person

[legacyabq]

Legacy, do you believe in GOD?
Posted by rdclark120365 at 7:28 AM

Look, some guy said god was looking out for this guy and watching over the families..

If thats true, why did he let them all drown?

Its ludicrous. Get a life..

And HELL NO I dont beleieve in invisible sky gods, or sun gods, or fairies, or ESP, or ghosts, or any other insane garbage..

Get a dam life already and learn some critical thinking you silly silly fundie person

[spiritwalk]

Come on, this guy went through enough and will have a lot of survivors guilt to contend with -- and now one of the fathers is busting his chops while the guys still recovering in the hospital. This just isn't right.
Posted by dagrandma

What isn?t right is ?survivors guilt?. That is not something that people put on themselves, it is something that society puts on them. We have all been fed this image of ?heroics? by imposters like John Wayne which says it is better to die a hero than to do nothing.

If the sea were strong enough to flip the boat over then they were too strong for this guy to think about jumping back in the water and trying to pull a 300 lb man up on the boat. I wouldn?t have tried it and I would not feel guilty about it and I wouldn?t care if people called me a coward.

The father is upset because this guys story isn?t plausible and he wants to know what the truth is. If the guy just said that the boat flipped and there was nothing he could do, that would be the end of it, but to tell this story of swimming under the boat and swimming out to bring them life jackets and then getting back up on the boat is ridiculous. He is going beyond survivors guilt and trying to claim heroics that just could not have happened. If I was the dead man?s father I would be upset as well.

[spiritwalk]

Does anyone else, suspect the slight possiblity that they staged it ? and took off to mexico ? I hate to think that, but strange why they couldn't ALL cling on until help arrived.....why only the one guy ?
Posted by Joe-NY-3
....................................................
It seems that we are in the minority, but I agree with you, there is something wrong with this story.
Like you, I have been wondering why the others did not pull themsleves out of the water and up on the overturned boat.
I have a hard time with this story of him swimming under the boat to get the others life jackets and him still having his flip flop on.
I wouldn't think it was staged though. I think it is more likely that they all went overboard and he got himself up on the boat immediately and watched as the others went under and he doesn't want to admit he did nothing. He probably couldn't have done anything and would have drowned as well if he had tried. He sat there for a couple of days thinking about it and this was the best story he could come up with to keep people from thinking he was a coward. By now he might even believe it himself. But, the idea that these guys stayed in the water for 2 days and didn't try to get up on the boat just isn't plausible.

[dagrandma]

Oh yeah, it's all a big conspiracy! The three of them have really gone to the lost continent of Atlantis and are living in up with the mermaids. Come on, this guy went through enough and will have a lot of survivors guilt to contend with -- and now one of the fathers is busting his chops while the guys still recovering in the hospital. This just isn't right.

[A_Better_Tomorrow]

It's easy to say his son would not give up while you're standing on dry land or sitting in a la-z-boy. Who knows the pain, hunger, dehydration or delusions that led those guys to call it quits. Whatever it was, they had enough. Maybe that's how he'll deal with his pain, to just deny it happened. Now that the father has lost his mind, you could call him the 4th victim. Too bad.

[briannorwood]

Look, they found the survivor clinging to his capsized boat. How or why his shipmates couldn't stay with the boat is irrelevant. He is darned lucky to be alive, and his friends weren't.

[demsliethedingleberry]

I love it when an uneducated bumpkin throws his two cents into the ring and reminds us why the repubs are on the outs.... hahaha get a life and dictionary ya dingleberry

[thgdriver]

Something is fishy about this guys story. It's time to call CSI, or maybe Sherlock Holmes.

[PVperson2]

The father wasn't there, his imagination doesn't mean anything. He needs to come to grip with the reality that went on.