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Wife Of NFL Player Lost At Sea Seeks Death Certificate

Photo from Clay Eavenson

Cooper, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player, was never found after his boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2009

TAMPA - The wife of Oakland Raiders linebacker Victor Marquis Cooper is seeking a presumptive death certificate after his disappearance in a boating accident.

Rebekah Cooper of Odessa filed a petition in Hillsborough County circuit court today requesting the certificate for her husband, 26, who is thought to have died in the Gulf of Mexico on or about March 1.

Cooper would have turned 27 on Wednesday.

A presumptive death certificate allows Cooper's beneficiaries to collect life insurance, among other benefits.

Cooper, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player, and three friends set out in a 21-foot boat from Clearwater Pass on a fishing trip about 6:30 a.m. Feb. 28.

The Coast Guard launched a search for the men after they did not return as expected. Rescuers found Nick Schuyler, a personal trainer who had played football for the University of South Florida, clinging to the capsized boat March 2.

Investigators said Cooper and the other men – Corey Smith, also a former Buc who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and Will Bleakley, a former USF football player – likely died at sea.

The petition notes that choppy seas and heavy winds caused the boat to capsize and that Cooper was in the water for an extended period before drifting away.

Cooper was "of sound mind, financially solvent and had no reason to abandon his lifestyle and family," the petition states.

His survivors also include a daughter and his father, Bruce, a sportscaster for a Phoenix, Ariz., television station.

Bruce Cooper said last week in a statement that the family would not hold a memorial service but "asks instead that all of you memorialize Marquis in your hearts and thoughts."

Information from the Tribune archives was used in this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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