TAMPA, Fla. — Two NFL players might have died only hours after the fishing boat they were in overturned in rough water, possibly before rescuers were even alerted that they and two others were lost off the west coast of Florida, according to Coast Guard records.
In a 23-page report provided Monday under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Coast Guard documents two conversations it had with Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida football player who was the lone survivor.
The report says the group went roughly 70 miles to fish for amberjack Feb. 28. Also on board were Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Coop er, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith and former University of South Florida player William Bleakley.
Around 5:30 p.m., their anchor got stuck. They tried to free it, but the boat capsized and the men were tossed into the water.
Schuyler said they held on to the boat for four hours. But as the night wore on, their will to survive appeared to have weakened and the effects of hypothermia likely were setting in.
Schuyler told the Coast Guard that one of the men “freaked out” and took off his life vest and disappeared. Another one started getting unruly and throwing punches. That second man also took off his life jacket, dived under the water and was never seen again.
The third man thought he saw land nearly two days after the boat capsized and decided to swim for it.
