corey smith and marquis cooper missing

The Coast Guard is currently searching for a missing fishing boat which holds "at least" two NFL players among a total of four passengers, according to a report.Lions free-agent defensive end Corey Smith is one of four fishermen in a small boat who are missing in the Gulf of Mexico off Tampa.Beside Smith, linebacker Marquis Cooper of the Oakland Raiders,also are among four people on a fishing boat reported missing off the Gulf Coast of Florida, according to broadcast and print reports in the Tampa area.

Smith, who spent the past three seasons with the Lions, was with a group of friends that left shore near Clearwater Pass around 6:30 a.m. Saturday in a 21-foot center-console boat, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard is using a 47-foot boat, a helicopter and an airplane to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass.

The boat is believed to be in distress, according to the reports. The waters there in the Gulf of Mexico reportedly are extremely choppy and Coast Guard crews are searching a 750-square-mile area for the boat.

Search efforts began about a half-hour after the boat was reported missing at 1:30 a.m. today, the Tampa Tribune reported.

Both Smith and Cooper began their NFL careers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent, told the Associated Press that Smith owns the boat and had been on fishing trips previously with Cooper, a former teammate.

"They've assured me that they're deploying all available resources to look for these guys and get them back," Del Duca told the AP.

Smith, 29, is a Richmond native who played at North Carolina State in college. He played for the Buccaneers from 2002 to 2004, and had a stint with the San Francisco 49ers before joining the Lions in 2006. He played in 12 games for Detroit this past season and now is a free agent.

Cooper, 26, played for the Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005, and also spent time with the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played in eight games for the Raiders this past season.