The Case Of The Missing Football Players

You would think that 6 inches of snow last night would really do a lot to brighten up the mood around things, but alas that has not happened. Not the least of which is a story emerging out of the NFL of the three missing people off the coast of Florida, two of whom are NFL players. Here's the latest scoop from NFL.com

The Coast Guard found a person clinging to an overturned boat off Florida's Gulf Coast on Monday, but couldn't immediately confirm whether it is the same boat that went missing with two NFL players aboard over the weekend.

The St. Petersburg Times reported that the Coast Guard did find the missing boat and that former University of South Florida player Nick Schuyler is the survivor.

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 Schuyler and former USF teammate Will Bleakley left on a fishing trip early Saturday. Weather conditions worsened through the day, and the men didn't return as expected in the evening.

The men were reported missing Sunday, and the Coast Guard had searched about 16,000 square miles of ocean for the 21-foot Everglades-manufactured boat by Monday morning.

Everglades boats are built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglas, which makes them difficult or impossible to sink.

Petty Officer Sondra-Kay Kneen confirmed that searchers located a boat. No further details were available.

Unless there is some miracle, it appears as if Smith, Cooper, and Bleakley may never return. Hopefully I am wrong and that by some miracle they show up again, even if it is 20-years from now on the coast of some deserted island.