Survivor Nick Schuyler Speaks About Missing NFL Players, Says They Removed Life Vests

Nick Schuyler, the only man rescued after a fishing-party that included NFL players went missing Saturday, spoke about what happened to the other men. The St. Petersburg Times reported on what Schuyler told the Coast Guard, warning that the story is "strange" and shouldn't be taken at face value considering Schuyler had spent two days in cold water.

Read what Schuyler said below and see a slideshow of the players' families awaiting news on their loved ones.

Schuyler told investigators that about two to four hours after their boat flipped in rough seas, one of the two National Football League players on board gave up hope and let himself be swept away, according to relatives briefed by the Coast Guard.

A few hours later, the second one did the same.

"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, 25, a former University of South Florida football player, is also still missing.

With former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Marquis Cooper, 26, and Corey Smith, 29, gone, only Schuyler and Will Bleakley remained clinging to the boat.

Then, sometime early Monday, Will Bleakley thought he saw a light in the distance. He decided to take off his life jacket and swim to it, hoping to get help, Bob Bleakley said Schuyler told the investigators.

Read more of the article from the The St. Petersburg Times.

The AP reports that the missing players' families are still searching for them despite the Coast Guard's decision to end its search:

Private boats and planes searched Wednesday for two NFL players and a third man missing for four days since their boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida, family members said. The Coast Guard called off the official search Tuesday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, who owned the boat, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley. But their families appealed for help to keep hunting.

• • • • • • • • A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew member (R) reaches out to pull a man, identified by the Coast Guard as Nick Schuyler, from a transport basket into the helicopter after the man was rescued from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida March 2, 2009. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued Schuyler on Monday, one of four boaters missing in the Gulf of Mexico since Saturday, and continued the search for two National Football League players and another man. REUTERS/U.S. Coast Guard/Handout