Easy smile, passion for fishing never left Marquis Cooper

He had an easy smile, a perfect record against Washington State and a passion for fishing.

But the past tense is no way to describe Victor "Marquis" Cooper.

The Coast Guard is still searching, friends and family are still hoping, and a network of fans is holding onto the possibility that the former University of Washington linebacker will be found alive off the coast of Florida.

"I've got my fingers crossed," said Rick Neuheisel, the coach who recruited Cooper to the Huskies.

"I'm going to keep him in my prayers," said Ruston Webster, the Seahawks executive who was in Tampa Bay when the Buccaneers drafted Cooper.

Cooper, now 26, came to Seattle from Arizona, a football recruit whose favorite part of the sales pitch was a ride on Neuheisel's boat. Cooper caught a 30-inch salmon on the Cowlitz River while in Washington, landed a 15-pound catfish in Arizona and put together four years of big plays on the football field.

As a true freshman, he played in every game of Washington's 2000 Rose Bowl season. He intercepted a pass in the Holiday Bowl as a sophomore, and he scored a touchdown in the Sun Bowl as a junior. He capped his college career by intercepting Washington State's Josh Swogger and returning the ball 38 yards for a touchdown.

Whatever the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Cooper lacked in size, he compensated for with speed. He ran his way all the way into the NFL.

"He had some physical gifts that if he wasn't in the right spot, he could catch up pretty quick," said Bobby Hauck, a UW assistant when Cooper enrolled at Washington. "That's the reason why he's playing on Sundays."

Cooper's 21-foot boat was found Monday, capsized off the Florida Gulf Coast near Clearwater. One of the four passengers, Nick Schuyler, was found clinging to the boat. The other three men on board, including Cooper and his former Bucs teammate Corey Smith, were separated from the boat when it flipped.

For Cooper, football was his profession, fishing his passion, and it grew to include two boats, one being the 21-footer that capsized, and more than 50 fishing rods. That passion was evident in college.

"Fishing has been a huge part of his life," said Greg Carothers, a former UW safety who was part of the same recruiting class as Cooper. "It really always has been."

Cooper kept tanks of tropical fish in college. When Carothers visited Cooper in Florida four years ago, when the Super Bowl was played in Jacksonville, larger tanks stood at his home's entryway, another in the living room.

"At the time, he was looking at getting more," Carothers said.

Cooper settled in Florida after being chosen in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft by Tampa Bay. Webster was the NFL club's director of college scouting when Cooper was drafted, but he left for Seattle in 2006. Cooper was cut by the Bucs that fall before beginning his third year there.

He played for four teams in 2006, arriving in Seattle in mid-December after injuries mounted on the Seahawks' defense.

If there was disappointment over that nomadic season, Cooper never let it show. At a time when he must have felt uncertainty over his football future, he was pleasant and hardworking. He was happy to be back in the city where he played college football, excited to be on an NFL team headed toward the playoffs.

"That's just Marquis," Neuheisel said. "Marquis' smile could light up a room. I know it sounds cliché, but it was true. He was always in a good mood."

Cooper shared the funniest travel story of that strange season. He was out on a fishing boat when the Minnesota Vikings called in September, wanting him to fly out for a tryout. But Cooper was out of cellphone range. By the time he came to shore, he didn't have time to go home and change clothes.

"I had to go on the airplane all salty and fishy and stuff," Cooper said.

As concern mounts across the country, those who know Cooper cling to hope that his latest fishing trip will have another happy ending.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com