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Nick Schuyler in the Gulf of Mexico (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, HO)
The U.S. Coast Guard has released new footage of the rescue of former University of South Florida football player Nick Schuyler, as he clung to the hull of a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. The video shows just how choppy the water was when Schuyler was rescued. According to weather reports at the time of the search, by the time Schuyler was found, the seas had calmed but the video clearly shows a very choppy, very rough surface.
Schuyler, former Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith, Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and another former University of South Florida football player, Will Bleakley, left from Clearwater early in the morning of February 28 on a fishing trip into the Gulf. In the wee hours the next morning, the men were reported missing. The Coast Guard conducted a 3-day search and only found Schuyler. The families of Cooper, Smith and Bleakley continued to search for two additional days but none of the others were ever found and are now presumed dead.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigation into the incident concluded that three factors contributed to the accident; careless or reckless operation, improper anchoring and operator inexperience.
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