With two NFL players, Corey Smith and Marquise Cooper, missing at sea with cohorts Wil Bleakley and Nick Schuyler and their boat off the Florida Gulf Coast, Coast Guard investigators were relieved to discover one of the boaters alive: Nick Schuyler. Schuyler was able to provide details about the boat flipping over while pulling up its anchor, which aided the Coast Guard's subsequent search.

But who is Nick Schuyler, and what was his relationship with the two missing NFL players?

Nick Schuyler: South Florida alumnus

Schuyler walked on at South Florida in 2006 after transferring from Kent State university. He practiced with the team during that spring and the subsequent fall, which is where he got to know teammate Will Bleakley, one of the men who ultimately ended up aboard the ill-fated boat.

However, because of NCAA transfer eligibility requirements, Schuyler would have had to sit out another season before being eligible to play. As a result of this requirement, Schuyler ultimately decided to give up his college football career.

Schuyler eventually landed a role as a fitness instructor at L.A. Fitness in the Clearwater, FL area, which is how he met Corey Smith and Marquise Cooper, who at the time were teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The two NFL players trained at the gym and got to know Schuyler as a result. The three became friends.

Sole survivor

They left Clearwater on Saturday in calm weather, but the weather soon turned rough, with waves as high as 15 feet surging through the Gulf. When the men went to leave, their anchor got stuck, and Bleakley made the ill-advised suggestion to gun the motor to dislodge it. Gunning the motor immediately capsized the boat, over 50 miles from shore, at 5:30 that afternoon.

Had Bleakley not swam underneath to grab the boat's life vests, the men would have all died within hours. Nonetheless, despite multiple efforts to signal for help, they could not attract anyone's attention. Their cell phones did not work.

By dawn the next day, hypothermia claimed Marquise Cooper, and would claim Corey Smith not long thereafter. Will Bleakley held on for another day, but reportedly died in Schuyler's arms. Schuyler himself was found on March 3, dehydrated but alive. Medical professionals determined that when he was found, Schuyler had perhaps another 5 to 10 hours before hypothermia would claim his life as well.  Experts were amazed Schuyler held on for that long, especially considering the bigger, stronger men with him perished well beforehand.

Subsequent efforts did not turn up the other three men lost at sea. Other than his disclosure to the Coast Guard, Schuyler has had no comment with the media.