American football player (1982?2009?)
American football player
Marquis Victor Cooper
(March 11, 1982
[1]
? March 2009, missing, presumed dead) was an
American football
linebacker
in the
National Football League
(NFL). He was selected by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
in the third round of the
2004 NFL Draft
. Cooper had also played for the
Minnesota Vikings
,
Pittsburgh Steelers
,
Seattle Seahawks
,
Jacksonville Jaguars
and
Oakland Raiders
. He played
college football
at the
University of Washington
.
On March 1, 2009, Cooper and three other men went missing after their boat capsized in rough seas near
Clearwater, Florida
. Cooper and two of the men are now presumed to be dead.
[2]
Early and personal life
[
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]
Cooper was the oldest child of
KPNX
sportscaster
Bruce Cooper and wife Donna. He has a younger sister named Donielle.
[1]
He was born in
Mesa, Arizona
and was raised in
Gilbert, Arizona
, and attended Gilbert Junior High School and
Highland High School
, where he became an All-State player in football.
[3]
Though his grandfather worked in the athletic department of
Arizona State University
, Cooper attended the
University of Washington
. He graduated with a degree in sociology and was a member of the
Pac-10
All-Conference team in 2003.
[4]
Cooper and wife Rebekah, who met while attending the University of Washington,
[5]
have a daughter named Delaney Christine.
[3]
In the offseason, the family lived in
Tampa, Florida
.
[5]
Professional career
[
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]
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
[
edit
]
Cooper was selected by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
in the third round (79th overall) of the
2004 NFL Draft
.
[6]
He was released just before the start of the 2006 season, on September 2.
Minnesota Vikings
[
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]
Cooper signed with the
Minnesota Vikings
on September 5, 2006. He was released on October 30.
Pittsburgh Steelers (first stint)
[
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]
On October 31, 2006, Cooper was claimed off
waivers
by the
Pittsburgh Steelers
. The Steelers waived him on December 5.
Seattle Seahawks
[
edit
]
Cooper was signed by the
Seattle Seahawks
on December 12. He finished the 2006 season with the team and was released the following year on July 27, 2007.
Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)
[
edit
]
Cooper was claimed off waivers by the Steelers on July 30, 2007. On September 19, he was released by the Steelers.
Jacksonville Jaguars
[
edit
]
On November 27, 2007, Cooper signed with the
Jacksonville Jaguars
. The Jaguars released him on December 7.
Pittsburgh Steelers (third stint)
[
edit
]
The Steelers signed Cooper for a third time on December 9, 2007. He became a free agent in the 2008 offseason.
Oakland Raiders
[
edit
]
Cooper was signed by the
Oakland Raiders
on November 5, 2008, after
linebacker
Robert Thomas
was placed on
injured reserve
.
Statistics
[
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]
Year
|
Team
|
Tackles
|
Sacks
|
Safety
|
FF
|
FR
|
Int
|
Yds
|
TD
|
2004
|
TB
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2005
|
TB
|
18
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2006
|
MIN
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2006
|
PIT
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2006
|
SEA
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2007
|
JAC
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2007
|
PIT
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2008
|
Oak
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Total
|
|
37
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Boating accident and disappearance
[
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]
On March 1, 2009, 10 days before Cooper's 27th birthday, the
U.S. Coast Guard
reported that a 21-foot fishing boat was missing off the Gulf Coast near
Clearwater, Florida
. The boat was carrying four passengers: Cooper,
Corey Smith
, and two former
University of South Florida football
players, Nick Schuyler and Will Bleakley.
[7]
The four men left Clearwater Pass on February 28 at 6:30 a.m. and were expected to return later that night. The Coast Guard began searching for the missing boat shortly after midnight on March 1, 2009. By 1:35 p.m. local time on March 2, 2009, the boat had been located, overturned, with Schuyler clinging to it.
[8]
The search for the three missing men was called off by the Coast Guard, but friends and relatives organized their own search.
[9]
The private search was called off on March 6.
[10]
Cooper, Smith, and Bleakley are presumed dead.
[2]
On March 11, Cooper's wife filed for a
death certificate
in civil court.
[11]
On March 25, 2009, a report was released based on a
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
investigation into the capsizing; the investigation included interviews with Schuyler (the survivor) and an inspection of the boat. The report concluded the following:
[12]
- the anchor line was tied to the port-side
transom
as part of a (mistaken) plan to free the anchor;
- the vessel, which had a 200 horsepower (150 kW) motor, was then throttled forward;
- the rear of the vessel was pulled into the water because the vessel's motor had been throttled without enough slack in the anchor line; and
- the capsizing ejected the operator and occupants into rough Gulf waters.
The conclusions were accompanied by additional details from the Schuyler interviews. According to Schuyler, after the capsizing, he and the other three men, all wearing
flotation devices
, struggled overnight to remain on top of the capsized hull of the boat, with water reaching chest-high over the partially submerged hull and waves of approximately 6 ft (1.83 m). Cooper and Smith became non-responsive and separated from the vessel between 5:30 and 6:30 the morning of March 1, and Bleakley became non-responsive and separated about 24 hours later, which was less than six hours before Schuyler was rescued. The investigator described the symptoms Schuyler witnessed as characteristic of
hypothermia
.
[13]
Media portrayal
[
edit
]
Cooper will be portrayed by Quentin Plair in the upcoming film
Not Without Hope
.
[14]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Sinn, Matthew (2009-03-03).
"Marquis Cooper bio"
.
WTSP
. Retrieved
2009-03-09
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
a
b
"Details emerge about final hours of missing NFL players"
.
Orlando Sentinel
. 2009-03-05
. Retrieved
2009-03-09
.
- ^
a
b
Garcia, Jose E. (2009-03-04).
"Cooper's life full of passions"
.
Arizona Republic
. Retrieved
2009-03-09
.
- ^
O'Neil, Danny (2009-03-09).
"Marquis Cooper: A one-of-a-kind loss"
.
Seattle Times
. Retrieved
2009-03-09
.
- ^
a
b
Janovich, Adriana (2009-03-05).
"Wapato family remains hopeful of finding son-in-law missing at sea"
.
Yakima Herald-Republic
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-03-10
. Retrieved
2009-03-09
.
- ^
"2004 NFL Draft Listing"
.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Retrieved
2023-05-06
.
- ^
"Crews still searching for missing boaters"
.
Bay News 9
. 2009-03-02. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2009
. Retrieved
2009-03-07
.
- ^
"Report: Nick Schuyler found clinging to boat"
.
Bay News 9
. 2009-03-02. Archived from
the original
on March 6, 2009
. Retrieved
2009-03-07
.
- ^
"Coast Guard suspends search for NFL players, friend"
.
CNN
. 2009-03-04
. Retrieved
2009-03-07
.
- ^
"Cooper family: Time to begin healing"
.
ESPN
. 2009-03-06
. Retrieved
2009-03-07
.
- ^
"Wife of NFL Player Lost at Sea Files for Death Certificate"
.
Fox News
. 2009-03-12
. Retrieved
2009-03-12
.
- ^
Florida Boating Accident Investigation Report
(PDF)
(Report). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. March 25, 2009. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2009-03-31.
- ^
Florida Boating Accident Investigation Report
(PDF)
(Report). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. March 25, 2009. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2009-03-31.
- ^
Lang, Brent (June 15, 2023).
"Josh Duhamel Joins Joe Carnahan's Survival Thriller 'Not Without Hope'(EXCLUSIVE)"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
October 19,
2023
.
External links
[
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]