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Remembering Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas' tragic death: Notorious Nashville
Rob Bironas, architect of several of the most memorable moments in Tennessee Titans history, died in a tragic, single-car drunk driving accident on Sept. 20, 2014. He was 36 years old.
According to toxicology reports obtained by The Tennessean at the time, Bironas' blood alcohol content was .218% at the time of his death, well above the legal limit of .08% that's permitted for operating a motor vehicle. Police concluded Bironas was traveling 73 mph, more than double the speed limit of 35, before losing control of his vehicle on Battery Lane, striking a tree, turning the car over and ultimately ending up in a creek bed.
The events surrounding Bironas' final night were perplexing. In the hour before his crash, Bironas displayed erratic behavior on the road by confronting two other vehicles, reportedly trying to sideswipe or chase the vehicles off the road and, according to one passenger who encountered Bironas that night, threatening to kill him and his fellow passengers. At this point, the witnesses say, Bironas was driving at speeds in excess of 100 mph in a residential area near the Wedgewood neighborhood. The first set of passengers who Bironas confronted said they had to drive away from him at upward of 110 mph to elude him.
Bironas' wife discovered he wasn't at home sometime after 9:30 p.m., and called police to notify them he was missing at 11:40 p.m. Unfortunately, Bironas had already crashed by that point. His vehicle turned over at 11:01 p.m. Bironas, 36, was taken by emergency personnel to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Bironas was the Titans' kicker from 2005-13 and still ranks as the second-leading scorer in Titans/Oilers history with 1,032 points. His 24 kicks made from 50-plus yards are the most in franchise history and his 60-yard game-winning kick against the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 3, 2006, still stands as the longest made kick in franchise history. On Oct. 21, 2007, Bironas made NFL history by making eight field goals in one game, a feat that had never before been achieved and has yet to be replicated. When Bironas retired, his 85.7% career made field goal percentage was the third-best in NFL history.
Several of Bironas' Titans teammates and coaches attended his memorial service, including special teams battery mates Brett Kern and Beau Brinkley as well as Kerry Collins, Jake Locker, Michael Griffin and Jason McCourty.
Bironas was buried on Sept. 25, 2014.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Reflecting on Rob Bironas' tragic accident: Notorious Nashville
