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NEWS > SPORTS > MISSING NFL PLAYERS NOT REALLY MISSED BY ANYONE
MISSING NFL PLAYERS NOT REALLY MISSED BY ANYONE
March 1 2009
Clearwater, FL – Former Detroit Lion defensive end Corey Smith and Victor "Marquis" Cooper of the Oakland Raiders are amongst 4 people missing after a fishing boat failed to return after an early Saturday morning launch. Currently Coast Guard boats are searching for the missing boat but the prospects of recovering the missing boat dims with each passing hour. The possibility of finding the missing players is also being dimmed by a mediocre effort by the Coast Guard who are deeming the missing players a low priority. 
Smith, who became a free agent at the end of last season, is a seven-year veteran who played for the winless Detroit Lions last year. Cooper, a five year veteran, played last season with the equally lowly Oakland Raiders who finished with a 5-11 record last year. It is expected that neither player will be inordinately missed, hence the limited response from the Coast Guard. 
“Cooper is locked into the Raiders for a couple of years at least and the team really isn’t showing any signs of improving. He has been a journeyman player who has played for 6 teams in 5 years so he really won’t be missed. Smith on the other hand had a little more potential and would likely have garnered some healthy interest on the free agent market if he hadn’t decided to go fishing,” said Scrape TV Sports analyst Mark Marvins. “As it stands his contract will probably remain with the Lions which is only fitting since it seemed like they played all of last season with a roster of corpses. In that respect he’s a perfect player for the Lions.”
Off-season misadventures have long been a burden to the NFL which has stripped them of some of their most important players to one degree or another. One of the most significant was Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Derrick Thomas who died after being involved in a car accident while on his way to watch the 2000 NFC Championship game. Other significant players that have been in off-season accidents include Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and most recently Tennessee Titans Defensive Tackle Albert Haynesworth.
“While it’s unlikely that the NFL will make too big a fuss about these two players this incident does underscore the risk involved in players living normal lives in between seasons. When major players like Roethlisberger or Haynesworth get hurt it hurts their ability to generate revenue for the league. Thomas was one of the great linebackers in history and even though he was in twilight of his career
it’s likely he would be in broadcasting by now, extending his earning potential,” continued Marvins. “It’s a
sticky situation for the league because it’s largely out of their control. During the training and the season they pretty much have complete control but in those few intervening months these players act like people and that tends to get them into trouble.”
Other significant off-season incidents include murder by former Carolina Panthers star Rae Carruth and All-Pro Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis’ implication in a stabbing in 2000.
“From what I have heard the league is considering a number of options including an extended season, a shortened offseason, and possibly some kind of tracking system similar to parole or even tracking 
collars,” continued Marvins. “Of course that kind of tracking would be expensive and
would likely only be reserved for important players so it’s such a system would have had no impact in this current situation. My guess is they wouldn’t make the effort to track any of
the players from either the Raiders or the Lions in that way. Of course the way the Lions play it won’t be hard to find High School players ready and willing to jump into any vacancies that might arise.”
So far there is no word on the fate of the missing players or the other two people on the boat whose careers were not disclosed. The Coast Guard reportedly plans on giving up the search shortly in order to avoid wasting any more fuel.
Alexi Orton, Sports Correspondent
NEWS > SPORTS > MISSING NFL PLAYERS NOT REALLY MISSED BY ANYONE
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