One of the most endearing qualities about Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable is his optimism.
After all, Cable talks about the Raiders having a chance to win a Super Bowl despite six consecutive seasons of 11 losses or more.
That's why Cable doesn't speak about Marquis Cooper in the past tense. Cooper, the Raiders linebacker, is one of three men lost at sea in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast after a fishing trip Saturday turned tragic.
The Coast Guard on Tuesday called off the search for Cooper, free-agent defensive end Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and former South Florida player William Bleakley after rescuing the fourth man on Cooper's boat, Nick Schuyler, on Monday. Schuyler is Bleakley's former South Florida teammate.
"A glass is half full to me, so until they find a body ... to me I'll just keep hoping. That's the way I am," Cable said Wednesday. "I'll just keep believing that there's some islands and things out and around there and you never know. People drift up on things. A log floats by and they happen to grab onto it and just let it take them where it goes and they'll find them so that's what I think."
Cable grew up in the state of Washington and also enjoys fishing. Cable, in fact, has fished in the area Cooper took his boat off the coast of Florida.
"That's big water," Cable said. "It's like I said, he'd done this a number of times. A very experienced fisherman, very experienced fisherman. It's just one of those things, a real tragedy."
Despite the Coast Guard calling off the search, about one dozen private boats -- some with family and friends of the missing aboard -- cruised the area in hopes of finding the men. Three private planes also flew over the area in search.
Cable said he's kept abreast of the situation in Florida by speaking with Cooper's wife, Rebekah, and other family members.
With his mind on Cooper, Cable still goes about his business as Raiders coach. There are free agents to host and the NFL draft is next month.
Cable didn't discuss offseason moves, but admitted working hasn't been easy.
"You probably don't do (your job) with the right focus because this is real life, this is real people involved," Cable said. "... At 3 o'clock you have this appointment, at 11 you have this one, gotta make this call, you do those things. You just do them with a heavy heart."
The Raiders begin their offseason program March 16.
Assistant defensive backs coach Willie Brown, who also serves as director of squad development, said counseling will be available to players.
Brown also shares Cooper's passion for fishing, but prefers calmer waters on rivers and lakes.
Brown said the situation hasn't been easy for owner Al Davis. Players at the team headquarters were too emotional to speak about Cooper, Brown said.
"I'm hoping a shark go by and just miss him, a dolphin go by and he catches his (fin) and take him to an island," Brown said. "There's always hope. Like Tom says, 'Until there's a body, there's still hope.' And that's what I'm hoping for."
(Contact Jason Jones at jejones<at>sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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