Agent: 2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Coast Guard is searching off Florida's Gulf Coast for a fishing boat carrying NFL players Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper and two other men missing nearly a day in choppy seas.

The Coast Guard says Smith, who lives in Richmond, Va., and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left for a fishing trip Saturday morning and did not return as expected.

Crews are using a helicopter and a 47-foot boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass, but poor weather is making the search difficult. Officials did not receive a distress signal from the missing craft.

According to Smith's agent, Cooper owns the boat and he and Smith have been on fishing trips before. The pair were teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

Former University of South Florida players Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler have been identified as the other two men aboard.