Tragedy at sea: NFL players

[jaybird2001wi]

Before this gets locked and/or I get reminded there is a Lambeau Leap forum for this subject since it involves NFL, the missing players at sea reminds me of a situation which happened almost 16 years ago to the day involving the Cleveland Indians.

Steve Olin, Tim Crews did not survive a boating accident while Bobby Ojeda survived the boating accident. It happened in Spring Training, which just opened less than a month ago.

In my humbling opinion, it reminds us all that no one is immune from tragedy. No matter if you wear a suit to work, a hard hat to work or a football helmet to work. This tragedy has brought diverse people together as well, a pair of NFL players who befriended one another and making friends with lesser known former college football players. It reminds us all that these NFL players likely never forgot where they came from or who there friends were. They also remind us that no matter who you are, these men enjoyed life like we did with there love of fishing, etc.

Comments?

[paul253]

According to the survivor, two of the players just gave up and let themselves be swept to sea. I couldn't imagine just giving up and accepting death, especially after a few hours only. I don't know, maybe I have watched too many episodes of "Man vs Wild", but I would like to think I would not have given up like that.

[GormanHarvey]

Just curious because I would like to read this - where did you see/hear/read that paul253?

[RyDogg66]

dehydration and hypothermia cause you to go silly, quickly. For example, someone suffering from sever hypothermia outside will think they are too warm and start disrobing almost completely. Add in the dehydration and in 12-16 hours in the water or more one could get so confused and delusional that you do something completely fatal, thinking you are "surviving."

[paul253]

Just curious because I would like to read this - where did you see/hear/read that paul253?

Here's an excerpt from an article:

But two to four hours after the boat capsized, one of the NFL players removed his life jacket and let himself be swept out to sea, the Times reported. A few hours later, the other one followed suit.

"We were told that Nick said the two NFL players took their life jackets off and drifted out to sea," said Bob Bleakley, whose son Will Bleakley, 25, is also still missing.

After Cooper, 26, and Corey Smith, 29, were carried away, Bleakley and Schuyler hung on until morning - but then Bleakley decided to swim to get help when he thought he saw a distant light, the paper said.

He, too, took his life vest off, 24-year-old Schuyler told the families.

[jaybird2001wi]

It's amazing what people do in these types of distressing situations. I seem to remember Cooper's father stating his son was a "fighter" and would not give up. Makes you all wonder what could happen when we are stuck in these situations that even the strongest of people can become vulnerable. I did read in one of the articles they found a life vest and a cooler nearby floating. The doctor who checked Schuyler's condition stated he probably would have perished within 5-10 hours due to his body temperature being 89 degrees.

At the state they found Schuyler, he was so dehydrated he was semi-conscious. That makes it harder for the remainder of the victims family to hold out hope for survival of their loved ones. I would not be surprised if Schuyler began recollecting more and more as the days progress because it takes time for someone with a traumatic experience to remember all of the events leading up to the rescue. At the time someone is rescued they are in recovery mode and then once they physically recover, then they mentally begin to restore themselves.

[Crew2323]

I believe it was in 2000 I went deep sea fishing in the gulf of Mexico. I very well could have gone out from the same location as these four did. However, I think we only went 15-20 miles out, and I'm telling you, it is an absolutely eerie feeling not seeing any land around you whatsoever, and seeing massive rolling waves. I'm guessing that the waves were only 5-8 feet, but they still seemed incredibly big. Perhaps this is why I was glued to this story. Every time I clicked on espn.com or any other sports website, I was praying I would read the headline "Missing boaters found alive" or something to that effect. This is just a heartbreaking story to me. And hearing the account from the lone survivor, that the NFL players took off their life jackets and allowed themselves to be swept to sea, it just gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's just a very sad and tragic story.

 

As an aside, it would appear to me that Cooper's father/family is in denial at this point. As of last night he was still saying that they believe their son is alive just waiting to be found because he is a fighter. As much as I wish I could share their optimism, I don't. Now, if it were my own child, maybe I'd feel the same way they do. But after hearing that when they found Schuyler with a body temp of 89 degrees, and the doctor saying he maybe had 5-10 hours left to live, the same had to be true with Cooper and Smith. I just hope that they can come to grips with this sooner rather than later. Again, this is a tragic story that is sticking in my gut, and will for a while.