 Bironas with theTennessee Titans in 2006 | |||||||||||
| No. 2 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Placekicker | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1978-01-29)January 29, 1978 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | September 20, 2014(2014-09-20) (aged 36) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Trinity (St. Matthews, Kentucky) | ||||||||||
| College |
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| NFL draft | 2001: undrafted | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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James Robert Douglas Bironas (January 29, 1978 – September 20, 2014) was an American professionalfootballplacekicker who played the majority of his professional career with theTennessee Titans. He playedcollege football forAuburn University andGeorgia Southern University.
He was originally signed by theGreen Bay Packers as anundrafted free agent in 2002. Bironas' active professional career began inArena football where he was a member of theCharleston Swamp Foxes,Carolina Cobras, and theNew York Dragons and had intermittent offseason stints with the NFL'sTampa Bay Buccaneers and thePittsburgh Steelers. In 2005, he signed with the Titans, with whom he played for nine seasons and was anAll-Pro andPro Bowl selection in 2007. Bironas was killed in a car crash on September 20, 2014.
Bironas attendedTrinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and was a four-year varsity letterman insoccer, a two-year varsity letterman in football andswimming, and added a one-year letterman intrack and field. He graduated in 1996.
Bironas attendedAuburn University, where he played for theAuburn Tigers football team from 1997 to 1999. He was a semi-finalist for theLou Groza Award in 1998 after making 12 of 16 field goal attempts (including two successful 49-yard (45 m) tries with the four misses from 40+) and making all 18 PATs for a team-high 54 points. The following season, new head coachTommy Tuberville replaced Bironas, the preseason All-SEC kicker of thefootball team, with the punter,Damon Duval.[1] Bironas later transferred toGeorgia Southern University, where his brother was on the soccer team, for his final year of collegiate eligibility, and played for theGeorgia Southern Eagles football team. Bironas won the 2000NCAA Division I-AA National Championship while playing with the Eagles, before returning to graduate from Auburn with a bachelor's degree in marketing.
Bironas signed with theGreen Bay Packers in 2002 as an undrafted free agent, before being released before the season began. Bironas then began playing in theArena Football League's minor league system (af2), where he spent the 2003 season with theCharleston Swamp Foxes, making 12 of 27 field goal attempts that season. During the 2003 NFL offseason, he signed with theTampa Bay Buccaneers, and was again released before the season began. In 2004, he moved up to theArena Football League with theCarolina Cobras converting 17 of 40 field goal attempts and 70 of 89 extra point tries. In 2004, he returned to the NFL and signed with thePittsburgh Steelers, with whom his stint was again no longer than a preseason. He therefore returned to arena football, spending the 2005 season with theNew York Dragons before signing with the Titans, connecting on 7 of 16 field goal attempts and 99 of 117 extra point attempts for the AFL's New York Dragons.
In 2005, Bironas signed as an unrestricted free agent with theTennessee Titans, where he finished his first season with the Titans converting 23 of 29 field goals attempts (79.3%) and 30 of 32 extra points attempts (93.8%). Bironas finished the season with 11 touchbacks, which tied him for fourth in the AFC and seventh in the NFL.
In 2006, Bironas built on his previous success and kicked four game winning field goals, including one of 60 yards against theIndianapolis Colts, which tied as the eighth-longest in NFL history.
In 2007, Bironas was named the AFC Player of the Month for the month of October.[2] He made 13 of 14 field goals (92.9 percent) and all six PATs as he helped the Titans earn a 3-1 (.750) record for the month. He accounted for 45 of the team's 81 points in October. In the Titans' three wins in October, Bironas connected on 12 of 13 field goals, including an NFL-record eight field goals in one game (52, 25, 21, 30, 28, 43, 29 and 29 yards).[3] This record effort also included the game-winning kick against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on October 21. In the same game, he tied the existing record of five field goals made in a single half. Bironas was selected to the NFL's All-Pro Team and the Pro Bowl.[4]
On February 28, 2008, the Titans tendered Bironas to a one-year, $1.417 million contract as arestricted free agent.[5] He signed his tender on May 9, 2008.
On February 18, 2009, the Titans re-signed Bironas to a four-year $12 million contract with $5 million guaranteed.[6]
The Titans and Bironas agreed to a two-year contract extension on March 7, 2013, worth $6.7 million.[7]
The Titans released Bironas on March 19, 2014.[8]
| Year | Team | GP | Field goals | Extra points | Total points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FGM | FGA | FG% | 20−29 | 30−39 | 40−49 | 50+ | Lng | XPM | XPA | XP% | ||||
| 2005 | TEN | 16 | 23 | 29 | 79.3 | 10−10 | 6−7 | 5−7 | 2−5 | 53 | 30 | 32 | 93.8 | 99 |
| 2006 | TEN | 16 | 22 | 28 | 78.6 | 10−11 | 7−7 | 4−8 | 1−2 | 60 | 32 | 32 | 100.0 | 98 |
| 2007 | TEN | 16 | 35 | 39 | 89.7 | 10−12 | 12−12 | 9−10 | 4−5 | 56 | 28 | 28 | 100.0 | 133 |
| 2008 | TEN | 16 | 29 | 33 | 87.9 | 6−6 | 7−7 | 15−19 | 1−1 | 51 | 40 | 40 | 100.0 | 127 |
| 2009 | TEN | 16 | 27 | 32 | 84.4 | 8−8 | 4−6 | 10−12 | 5−6 | 53 | 37 | 37 | 100.0 | 118 |
| 2010 | TEN | 16 | 24 | 26 | 92.3 | 6−6 | 8−9 | 8−8 | 2−3 | 55 | 38 | 38 | 100.0 | 110 |
| 2011 | TEN | 16 | 29 | 32 | 90.6 | 5−5 | 9−10 | 9−10 | 6−7 | 53 | 34 | 34 | 100.0 | 121 |
| 2012 | TEN | 16 | 25 | 31 | 80.6 | 6−6 | 13−13 | 5−10 | 1−2 | 53 | 35 | 35 | 100.0 | 110 |
| 2013 | TEN | 16 | 25 | 29 | 86.2 | 10−10 | 8−9 | 5−7 | 2−3 | 55 | 41 | 41 | 100.0 | 116 |
| Career | 144 | 239 | 279 | 85.7 | 71−74 | 74−80 | 70−91 | 24−34 | 60 | 315 | 317 | 99.4 | 1,032 | |
| Year | Team | GP | Kickoffs | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KO | Yds | Avg | TB | Ret | Avg | TD | OSK | OSKR | |||
| 2005 | TEN | 16 | 71 | 4,557 | 64.2 | 11 | 57 | 22.6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2006 | TEN | 16 | 70 | 4,356 | 62.2 | 10 | 57 | 22.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | TEN | 16 | 75 | 5,071 | 67.6 | 16 | 58 | 24.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | TEN | 16 | 85 | 5,708 | 67.2 | 22 | 61 | 25.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2009 | TEN | 16 | 81 | 5,199 | 64.2 | 7 | 71 | 24.1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2010 | TEN | 16 | 76 | 5,071 | 66.7 | 17 | 56 | 24.8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | TEN | 16 | 78 | 4,991 | 64.0 | 44 | 30 | 22.7 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2012 | TEN | 16 | 74 | 4,725 | 63.9 | 37 | 33 | 26.1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2013 | TEN | 16 | 80 | 4,891 | 61.1 | 32 | 42 | 24.8 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Career | 144 | 690 | 44,569 | 64.6 | 196 | 465 | 24.0 | 3 | 17 | 5 | |
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Bironas founded The Rob Bironas Fund in 2008. The Nashville-based nonprofit is part of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and works to give Nashville youth ways to engage with and be educated by area musicians. The fund finances tools, education and leadership to help Nashville youth achieve scholastic excellence through music education. The fund has partnered with both theNashville Symphony andCountry Music Hall of Fame.
Bironas was a board member of the Nashville Symphony, and worked to provide help to needy children through the Kicks for Kids program. He was also a member ofPhi Kappa Tau fraternity, where he contributed to charity and philanthropy.
In June 2014, Bironas married Rachel Bradshaw, daughter of former NFL andHall of Fame quarterbackTerry Bradshaw.[9] Bironas was ofLithuanian descent.[10]
On September 20, 2014, at approximately 11 p.m., Bironas was killed in a car crash. He lost control of his 2009Yukon Denali and swerved off the road, flipped several times, hit several trees, and finally landed upside down in a ditch. He was transported toVanderbilt University Medical Center but was pronounced dead on arrival.[11] Witnesses said that Bironas had been driving aggressively prior to the crash.[12]Toxicology reports released 11 days later revealed that Bironas'blood alcohol level had been 0.218 percent, almost three times the legal limit of 0.08 in the state of Tennessee. Autopsy reports showed Bironas died fromblunt force trauma as a result of crashing the car.[13]