Former NFL player swims nine miles to shore after falling out of boat

[Betallsports]

A former NFL player was treated for hypothermia at a Florida hospital Thursday after he was forced to swim nine miles to shore after falling out of his fishing boat.
WPBF reported that Rob Konrad had gone on a deep-sea fishing trip in the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday and was attempting to land a catch when he fell out of his 36-foot vessel. U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Mark Barney told the Palm Beach Post that the boat was set on autopilot and drifted away from Konrad as he tried to get back on board.


Konrad's friends contacted the Coast Guard when he failed to return from his excursion and a helicopter crew was dispatched in a fruitless effort to locate him. At around 4:30 a.m. local time, Thursday, Barney told the paper, the Coast Guard was preparing another search when they were contacted by Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies, who told them that Konrad had been located.


WPBF reported that Konrad had managed to swim to shore in Palm Beach and had flagged down a police officer. The station reported that Konrad was barefoot and clad in only his underwear. The former Miami Dolphins fullback later told police that he had seen the lights of the Coast Guard helicopter overahead, but the crew had not spotted him.


Konrad played college football at Syracuse University, where he was the last player to wear the No. 44 previously worn by Syracuse greats Ernie Davis, Jim Brown, and Floyd Little. He later played six seasons in the NFL, all with the Dolphins before retiring after the 2004 season. He currently runs a financial consulting business.

 

[PatsFan1283]

This is an insane story if you read about it.

He was swimming for 16hrs straight with no life jacket, almost got rescued twice but the boat and the coast guard didn't see him.

That would be so fucking awful to tip over and just know if you had a life jacket how much easier that whole thing would be. It would still be brutal but atleast with a life jacket you can rest more.

 

[PatsFan1283]

As heroic and inspiring as his will to live is, what a dumbass for not wearing a life jacket 10 miles from shore

 

[PatsFan1283]

Triathletes train by swimming from alcatraz to shore and that is 1.5 miles, this 6 times that!

 

[Betallsports]

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[Betallsports]

As heroic and inspiring as his will to live is, what a dumbass for not wearing a life jacket 10 miles from shore

Guess if he goes alone again, you won't keep the boat on Autopilot ... lol

 

[PatsFan1283]

wow he actually went 27 miles worth of distance

the will to live can be an amazing thing

 

[CHOPTALK]

It seems like he did not take a direct path to shore based on the map thing on the story.

I wonder how they figured out his exact route after the fact

 

[CHOPTALK]

I would conservatively say less then 2% of the worlds population would have been able to survive that.
Maybe even less then 1%

 

[PatsFan1283]

I would conservatively say less then 2% of the worlds population would have been able to survive that.
Maybe even less then 1%

not even close

.0001% of the worlds adult male population aged from say 20-40....You start factoring in a wider range of people and the % becomes microscopic

They can figure out the route he took based on where the boat tipped and where he landed at shore. Obviously it is an estimate but likely nearly accurate based on that.

 

[C.P.]

I saw this story...and

thought of you Mike..haha

losing at the casino (hope you left your cellphone in the cabin)...and just saying fvckin I'm out

haha...

 

[CHOPTALK]

not even close

.0001% of the worlds adult male population aged from say 20-40....You start factoring in a wider range of people and the % becomes microscopic

They can figure out the route he took based on where the boat tipped and where he landed at shore. Obviously it is an estimate but likely nearly accurate based on that.

It would not take much convincing to make me believe my estimation was high.

Yea when you factor in newborns, people who don't even know how to swim regardless of physical condition yes I wouod have to say my numbers were high. .0001 does sound low though. That's 1 out of every 10000 people.

 

[PatsFan1283]

It would not take much convincing to make me believe my estimation was high.

Yea when you factor in newborns, people who don't even know how to swim regardless of physical condition yes I wouod have to say my numbers were high. .0001 does sound low though. That's 1 out of every 10000 people.

Swimming 27 miles in treacherous conditions with no life jacket with the added pressure/hysteria of your life being on the line?

Honestly it is probably like 10-20k people in the world who would be a fav to survive and that might even be too high

You would need to be a very good swimmer, an elite athlete not far off his prime athletic years and have the mental makeup to stay calm and push through the entire time.

 

[CHOPTALK]

I'm not downplaying this incredible story one bit.

But I gotta take the over on the 10k-20k people worldwide.

I would say at least a million and that number is still microscopic compared to the world population .

 

[Betallsports]

I saw this story...and

thought of you Mike..haha

losing at the casino (hope you left your cellphone in the cabin)...and just saying fvckin I'm out

haha...

LOL, well i am a good swimmer ... But I would be lucky to make it a Mile at Sea. It's not like doing laps in a Pool

Crazy thing is, I've only been to the hard Rock like 3 times since Oct.
Now maybe if they had Craps, I would go more..lol

 

[PatsFan1283]

I'm not downplaying this incredible story one bit.

But I gotta take the over on the 10k-20k people worldwide.

I would say at least a million and that number is still microscopic compared to the world population .

Maybe 50k, maybe 100k

1% would be 70 million....

Once you start adding up all the people who are women, children, malnourished, old then the world population that would even have a chance to do so starts to dwindle pretty quickly.

Every Navy seal would be able to do it, most high level swimmers but there aren't many large groups of people you can point to that would be able to do it. A lot of hockey players that can swim probably. It isn't many people.

 

[CHOPTALK]

BAS

How much of the worlds population do you think could have survived that under the same exact conditions?

 

[PatsFan1283]

Half the world lives on like $2 a day man. This guy was a former NFL player who obviously had a lot of water experience.

2k guys a year play in the NFL and most of them probably don't swim

 

[CHOPTALK]

Maybe 50k, maybe 100k

1% would be 70 million....

Once you start adding up all the people who are women, children, malnourished, old then the world population that would even have a chance to do so starts to dwindle pretty quickly.

Every Navy seal would be able to do it, most high level swimmers but there aren't many large groups of people you can point to that would be able to do it. A lot of hockey players that can swim probably. It isn't many people.

You convinced me that my 1-2% figure is ridiculous.

I don't think 70 to 140 million people could pull it off.
But like you said the will to survive is a mighty powerful thing.

10 to 100k people is an incredibly small number.

I just think at least 1 million people could do it.

But putting all this aside this has to be one of the most incredible stories I've ever read in my life.

 

[PatsFan1283]

The majority of people being able to do it would have some type of high level athletic background and be aged say 20-40 and also have swimming experience.

Nobody at the RX could do it. Enfuego would probably start trying to debate the shark and just get eaten.

If you have a life jacket though the % would go up a lot as long as the conditions don't get too bad. Just more about pain tolerance at that point I'd think.