NFL: Wife of missing boater seeks death certificate

Marquis Cooper's wife is seeking a presumptive-death certificate a week after the Coast Guard called off its search for the missing NFL player and two friends who were reported missing in the Gulf of Mexico on Feb. 28.

Rebekah Cooper filed a petition for the certificate Wednesday in civil court in Florida.

The Oakland linebacker departed from Clearwater Pass west of Tampa, Fla., in a 21-foot boat. He was with free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and two former South Florida football players.

Their boat overturned after encountering rough waters. Nick Schuyler was found two days later. The other men have not been found.

With the presumptive-death certificate, Cooper's beneficiaries can collect life insurance and other benefits.

NFLPA to vote. Some seven months after the death of Gene Upshaw, the NFL Players Association is expected to select a new executive director in a vote scheduled for Sunday.

The 32 player representatives - one for each team - will choose among former NFLPA presidents Troy Vincent (a former Eagle) and Trace Armstrong, and two attorneys, DeMaurice Smith and David Cornwell.

Redskins. Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was indicted on two misdemeanor traffic charges after a Dec. 13 crash that seriously injured another driver in Nashville.

Haynesworth, a former Tennessee Titan who signed with Washington last month, was released on $1,000 bond after surrendering Wednesday. His agent did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Noteworthy. Fight charges in Miami against Minnesota tackle Bryant McKinnie, a Woodbury High graduate, will be dropped if he completes community service and counseling and avoids another arrest. . . . Buffalo said that newly signed receiver Terrell Owens will get his familiar No. 81 and that second-year receiver James Hardy will switch to No. 84. . . . John Bankert, 68, a former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died after a long illness. . . . The New York Giants won't raise ticket prices next season for the first time since 2000.