ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Pro football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka was among six people rescued from a boat in the Bering Sea.

The Coast Guard conducted the rescue Thursday, but only after Csonka and the film crew accompanying him had spent a cold night in their 28-foot vessel.

Csonka had been hunting for reindeer on remote Umnak Island off the Aleutian Islands, while filming another episode for his television show for the Outdoor Life Network, when things went from bad to worse.

The group had been hunting on the island and had boarded the boat and were on the way back, when conditions on the sea turned for the worse, with gale-force winds and pounding seas.

After hours of worsening conditions, the Coast Guard was called. A helicopter from Kodiak arrived and hoisted members of the group to safety.