College football star stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for 11 hours says fear ... trends now
A former college football star was rescued after he was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for 11 hours on his kayak after rescue helicopters initially missed him.
Chis Smelley, a former quarterback for the University of South Carolina, went out alone to fish off the coast of Grayton Beach, Florida, around 8.30am on Thursday when he drifted about eight miles from shore.
Smelley, 37, told WBRC that the 'whipping' wind was a lot stronger in the water than he had anticipated.
'My body was sitting up tall and I was basically just a big sail. I was giving it everything I could and there was a long period of time where I was at the mercy of the wind,' he said.
Chis Smelley, 37, went out alone to fish off the coast of Grayton Beach, Florida around 8.30am on Thursday when he drifted about 8 miles from shore
Smelley is seen in footage alone in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. Rescue helicopters didn't spot him at first as he wore dark clothing inside of a dark blue kayak
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After his wife started to worry, she called the Walton County Sheriff's Office who set out on an urgent search for him, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and officials from Florida Fish and Wildlife.
Smelley, who said that he's 'real comfortable in the ocean' had just caught a fish when he noticed just how far he veered off.
'I wouldn’t say I was necessarily scared, but there was sometimes where, especially as the sun started going down, and I had seen the rescue helicopters fly over me pretty close by a few times but
