Marquis Victor Cooper (March 11, 1982
[ – March 2009, missing, presumed dead) was an ]American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
in the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) . He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...
. Cooper had also played for the Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
and Oakland Raiders. He played college football at the University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
.
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.
Early and personal life
Cooper was the oldest child of KPNX sportscaster Bruce Cooper and wife Donna. He has a younger sister named Donielle. He was born in Mesa, Arizona and in raised in Gilbert, Arizona, and attended Gilbert Junior High School and Highland High School, where he became an All-State player in football.
Though his grandfather worked in the athletic department of Arizona State University, Cooper attended the University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
. He graduated with a degree in sociology and was a member of the Pac-10 All-Conference team in 2003. Cooper and wife Rebekah, who met while attending the University of Washington, have a daughter named Delaney Christine.[ In the offseason, the family lived in ]Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
.[
]
Professional career
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cooper was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
in the third round (79th overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...
. He was released just before the start of the 2006 season, on September 2.
Minnesota Vikings
Cooper signed with the Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
on September 5, 2006. He was released on October 30.
First stint with Pittsburgh Steelers
On October 31, 2006, Cooper was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers waived him on December 5.
Seattle Seahawks
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.
Second stint with Pittsburgh Steelers
Cooper was claimed off waivers by the Steelers on July 30, 2007. On September 19, he was released by the Steelers.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On November 27, 2007, Cooper signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
. The Jaguars released him on December 7.
Third stint with Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers signed Cooper for a third time on December 9, 2007. He became a free agent in the 2008 offseason.
Oakland Raiders
Cooper was signed by the Oakland Raiders on November 5, 2008, after linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
Robert Thomas was placed on injured reserve.
Statistics
Boating accident and disappearance
On March 1, 2009, the U.S. Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...
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. 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.
The search for the three missing men was called off by the Coast Guard, but friends and relatives organized their own search. The private search was called off on March 6. Cooper, Smith, and Bleakley are presumed dead.[ On March 11, Cooper's wife filed for a ]death certificate
A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as ...
in civil court.
On March 25, 2009, a report was released based on a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is a Florida government agency founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tallahassee. It manages and regulates the state's fish and wildlife resources, and enforces related laws. Officers ar ...
investigation into the capsizing; the investigation included interviews with Schuyler (the survivor) and an inspection of the boat. The report concluded the following:
* 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 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 device
A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suite that is worn by a ...
s, 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 . 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
Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
.
See also
* '' Not Without Hope''
* List of American football players who died during their careers
* List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea
Throughout history, people have mysteriously disappeared at sea, many on voyages aboard floating vessels or traveling via aircraft. The following is a list of known individuals who have mysteriously vanished in open waters, and whose whereabouts r ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Marquis
1982 births
2000s missing person cases
2009 deaths
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American sportspeople
African-American players of American football
American football linebackers
People from Gilbert, Arizona
Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area
Players of American football from Arizona
Washington Huskies football players
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Minnesota Vikings players
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Seattle Seahawks players
Jacksonville Jaguars players
Oakland Raiders players
People lost at sea
Boating accident deaths