The search for Richmond native Corey Smith and two other missing boaters has been suspended.
The Coast Guard ended its search in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast this evening at 6:30.
Smith is one of four fishermen lost at sea when the boat they were fishing from capsized in rough waters Saturday. One of the men was rescued. The men were about 30 miles off the coast of Clearwater, Fla.
"It's very devastating," said William Smith, Corey's brother. "I know it's taking man hours and money, but those are three great people they're abandoning. And one of them is my blood.
"It's unimaginable. We're not giving up hope. We're trying to pull together. How do we know they aren't still fighting out there? If everybody gives up, it won't bring any closure. It's a hard pill to swallow."
In Clearwater, Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Case said, "We're extremely confident that if there are any survivors on the surface of the water, that we would have found them."
Corey Smith, 29, completed his seventh season in the NFL in December. He graduated from John Marshall High School in 1997 and played four seasons as a defensive end at North Carolina State. He was an all-Atlantic Coast Conference performer in his senior year.
Smith, 6-2 and 250, went undrafted by NFL teams, but signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent in 2002.
"He overcame long odds, coming in as a free agent, playing seven years and getting ready for his eighth," said Joe Cullen, Smith's position coach with the Detroit Lions the past three seasons. "I just hope and pray he defies some more odds and survives this thing."
Cullen, a former assistant coach at the University of Richmond, first met Smith during a summer camp for area high school players at UR.
"Corey came three straight years," Cullen said. "He was an excellent player, even at that age. I was kidding with him and offered him a scholarship when he was in the ninth grade. By the time he was a junior, he was too good. He was going to play in the ACC or the Big East."
Smith was fishing with Marquis Cooper, Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler in Cooper's 21-foot boat when it capsized in rough waters Saturday evening.
The men dove under it to retrieve life jackets and put them on.
Schuyler was found clinging to the boat yesterday afternoon. He said the four men were attempting to pull in the boat's anchor when a wave, perhaps 14 feet high, hit the boat, causing it to capsize.
Smith and Cooper, a linebacker, had become friends when they were teammates with Tampa Bay. Smith spent three seasons with the Bucs before being signed by San Francisco. He signed with Detroit in 2006.
With the Lions, he played in 36 games and started six. He had his best pro season in 2008 with 42 tackles, including 28 solo stops, three sacks and 10 special-teams tackles.
"He was a professional," said Jason Arapoff, the coordinator of physical development for the Lions. "He was top shelf. He was never late. He was never lazy. He did his work and never complained.
"He's a core NFL player, one of the 10-15 guys every team has who are the glue of the team. He can play special teams. He can start. He can bail you out during a game. Guys like him make the NFL go. They do the grunt work so other guys can make plays."
Teammates and coaches remember Smith as a quiet, unassuming player who got along with everyone.
"He played for his teammates, not the fame and glory," said Clayton White, a linebacker at N.C. State with Smith and now an assistant coach at Stanford University.
"He was a great kid who turned into a great young man," said Kevin Adams, athletic director at John Marshall and the Justices football coach in Smith's senior season. "He earned everything he got.
"He gave to us in a time of need, and he never let his success keep him from being grounded."
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or pwoody@timesdispatch.com.
Staff writer Arthur Utley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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