Rob Bironas
Encyclopedia
James Robert Douglas "Rob" Bironas (born January 29, 1978) is an American football
placekicker
for the Tennessee Titans
of the National Football League
. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers
as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football
at Auburn University
and Georgia Southern
.
Bironas was an All-Pro
and Pro Bowl
selection in 2007. He has been a member of the Charleston Swamp Foxes
, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
, Carolina Cobras
, Pittsburgh Steelers
, New York Dragons
and Tennessee Titans
.
in Louisville, Kentucky, and was a four-year varsity letterman in soccer, a two-year varsity letterman in football and swimming
, and added a one-year letterman in track and field
. He graduated in 1996.
where he was a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award
in 1998 after making 12 of 16 field goal attempts (including two successful 49 yards (44.8 m) tries with the four misses from 40+) and making all 18 PATs for a team-high 54 points. The following season, new head coach Tommy Tuberville
replaced Bironas, the preseason All-SEC kicker of the football team
, with the punter, Damon Duval
. Bironas later transferred to Georgia Southern University
, where his brother was on the soccer team, for his final year of collegiate eligibility. While with the Eagles
, Bironas won the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship, before returning to graduate from Auburn with a degree in marketing.
of the Arena Football League's minor league system (af2
). He made 12 of 27 field goal attempts that season for the Swamp Foxes. He moved up to the Arena Football League in 2004 with the Carolina Cobras
converting 17 of 40 field goal attempts and 70 of 89 extra point tries. He spent the 2005 season with the New 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.
(2002), and preseason rosters with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(2003) and the Pittsburgh Steelers
(2004).
, 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 has kicked 4 game winning field goals, including one of 60 yards against the Colts, fourth longest in NFL history.
Bironas was named the AFC Player of the Month for the month of October (2007). 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 (52, 25, 21, 30, 28, 43, 29 and 29 yards), included the game-winning kick that gave the Titans a 38-36 victory against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on Oct. 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.
On February 28, 2008 the Titans tendered Bironas to a one-year, $1.417 million contract as a restricted free agent
. He signed his tender on May 9, 2008.
On February 18, 2009, the Titans signed Bironas to a four-year contract.
Bironas is a board member of the Nashville Symphony, and works to provide help to needy children through the Kicks for Kids program.
FIELD GOALS>
Season PAT PAT Pct.
1-19 !! 20-29 !! 30-39 !! 40-49 !! 50+ !! FG-FGA !! FG Pct. !! Long !! Points
2005
30/32
93.8%
0/0
10/10
6/7
5/7
2/5
23/29
79.3%
53
99
2006
32/32
100.0%
0/0
10/11
7/7
4/8
1/2
22/28
78.6%
60
98
2007
28/28
100.0%
0/0
10/12
12/12
9/10
4/5
35/39
89.7%
56
133
2008
40/40
100.0%
0/0
6/6
7/7
15/19
1/1
29/33
87.9%
51
127
2009
37/37
100.0%
0/0
8/8
4/6
10/12
5/6
27/32
84.4%
53
118
TOTALS
167/169
98.8%
0/0
44/47
36/39
43/56
13/19
136/161
84.5%
60
575
KICKOFFS>
Season KO Avg.
TB !! Ret !! Ret Avg !! TD !! Onside !! Recov
2005
71
64.2
11
57
22.6
0
2
0
2006
70
62.2
10
57
22.1
0
1
0
2007
75
67.6
16
58
24.2
0
0
0
2008
85
67.2
22
61
25.0
0
1
1
2009
81
64.2
7
71
17.3
1
2
1
TOTALS
382
65.2
66
304
23.7
1
6
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
for the Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
and Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern Eagles football
The Georgia Southern Eagles represent Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Southern Conference under head coach Jeff Monken. The Eagles have won an unprecedented six FCS national championships and eight Southern Conference championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award...
.
Bironas was an All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
and Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
selection in 2007. He has been a member of the Charleston Swamp Foxes
Charleston Swamp Foxes
The Charleston Swamp Foxes were one of the 15 original teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference, before switching divisions in every year of their existence . Charleston played their home games in the North Charleston Coliseum...
, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
, Carolina Cobras
Carolina Cobras
Not to be confused with the Los Angeles Cobras, who played in the 1988 AFL season.The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League...
, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, New York Dragons
New York Dragons
The New York Dragons were an Arena Football League team based in the New York metropolitan area. The team was founded in as the original incarnation of the Iowa Barnstormers, and relocated to New York in . They played in New York until 2008, when the league folded...
and Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
.
Early years
Bironas attended Trinity High SchoolTrinity High School (Louisville)
Trinity High School is a Catholic, all-boys, college preparatory high school located in St. Matthews, Kentucky, a city within the Louisville Metro governmental area. Trinity first opened its doors in 1953, when Archbishop John Floersh anticipated the growth of Louisville's eastern suburbs by...
in Louisville, Kentucky, and was a four-year varsity letterman in soccer, a two-year varsity letterman in football and swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, and added a one-year letterman in track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
. He graduated in 1996.
College career
Bironas attended Auburn UniversityAuburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
where he was a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award
Lou Groza Award
The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza.-Winners:...
in 1998 after making 12 of 16 field goal attempts (including two successful 49 yards (44.8 m) tries with the four misses from 40+) and making all 18 PATs for a team-high 54 points. The following season, new head coach Tommy Tuberville
Tommy Tuberville
Thomas Hawley Tuberville is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Tech University, a position he has held since the 2010 season...
replaced Bironas, the preseason All-SEC kicker of the football team
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...
, with the punter, Damon Duval
Damon Duval
Damon Duval is a professional Kicker and Punter for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Raised by his mother, Cynthia, Damon attended Central High School in Harrison, Tennessee. At age 13, he played professional soccer in the United States Indoor Soccer League as a Striker for...
. Bironas later transferred to Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University is a national public university located on a campus in Statesboro, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1906, it is part of the University System of Georgia and is the largest center of higher education in the southern half of Georgia offering 117 academic majors in a comprehensive...
, where his brother was on the soccer team, for his final year of collegiate eligibility. While with the Eagles
Georgia Southern Eagles football
The Georgia Southern Eagles represent Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Southern Conference under head coach Jeff Monken. The Eagles have won an unprecedented six FCS national championships and eight Southern Conference championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award...
, Bironas won the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship, before returning to graduate from Auburn with a degree in marketing.
Arena football
Bironas spent the 2003 season with the Charleston Swamp FoxesCharleston Swamp Foxes
The Charleston Swamp Foxes were one of the 15 original teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference, before switching divisions in every year of their existence . Charleston played their home games in the North Charleston Coliseum...
of the Arena Football League's minor league system (af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
). He made 12 of 27 field goal attempts that season for the Swamp Foxes. He moved up to the Arena Football League in 2004 with the Carolina Cobras
Carolina Cobras
Not to be confused with the Los Angeles Cobras, who played in the 1988 AFL season.The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League...
converting 17 of 40 field goal attempts and 70 of 89 extra point tries. He spent the 2005 season with the New York Dragons
New York Dragons
The New York Dragons were an Arena Football League team based in the New York metropolitan area. The team was founded in as the original incarnation of the Iowa Barnstormers, and relocated to New York in . They played in New York until 2008, when the league folded...
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.
Early career
Bironas spent time on the off season roster of the Green Bay PackersGreen Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
(2002), and preseason rosters with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
(2003) and the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
(2004).
Tennessee Titans
In 2005, he signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Tennessee TitansTennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
, 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 has kicked 4 game winning field goals, including one of 60 yards against the Colts, fourth longest in NFL history.
Bironas was named the AFC Player of the Month for the month of October (2007). 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 (52, 25, 21, 30, 28, 43, 29 and 29 yards), included the game-winning kick that gave the Titans a 38-36 victory against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on Oct. 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.
On February 28, 2008 the Titans tendered Bironas to a one-year, $1.417 million contract as a restricted free agent
Restricted free agent
A restricted free agent is a professional athlete who plays in the KHL, NFL, NHL, or NBA. Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain or change employment status with their athletic club teams.- NFL :...
. He signed his tender on May 9, 2008.
On February 18, 2009, the Titans signed Bironas to a four-year contract.
Records and honors
- AFC Special Teams Player of the Week - 2006 Season - Week 13
- AFC Special Teams Player of the Week - 2007 Season - Week 7
- AFC Special Teams Player of the Month - 2007 Season - October
- Most NFL game winning field goals in a season (4 in 2005 - Tied, most recently, Josh Brown)
- Most field goals in a game (8) - October 21, 2007 at Houston Texans
- Most points by a kicker in a game (26) - October 21, 2007 at Houston Texans
- 2nd most points scored in a game in franchise history (26) - October 21, 2007 at Houston Texans (1st place: Billy Cannon (30), December 10, 1961; Houston Oilers at New York TitansNew York TitansNew York Titans may refer to:*New York Titans , the former name of the National Football League's New York Jets* New York Titans , a National Lacrosse League team now known as the Orlando Titans...
) - Most points scored by any player in a game played in Texas (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio) (26)
- Most field goals in a half (5 - Tied with Morten AndersenMorten AndersenMorten Andersen , nicknamed "The Great Dane", is a former National Football League kicker. He holds the distinction of being the all-time leading scorer in NFL history, as well as being the all-time leading scorer for two different teams; the New Orleans Saints, with whom he spent 13 seasons, and...
and Chris BoniolChris BoniolChristopher Donald Boniol is a former professional American football placekicker in the National Football League. He played first at Alexandria Senior High School and then college football at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana...
) - October 21, 2007 at Houston Texans - 2008 Pro Bowl2008 Pro BowlThe 2008 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2007 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 10, 2008. The game was televised in the United States by Fox and began shortly after 11:40am local time . The NFC won, 42–30, despite a 17-point first half AFC...
selection - Led Tennessee Titans in scoring in both 2005 and 2006
- 2nd place on franchise's all-time scoring list
- Second place on franchise's all-time field goal list
- Selected to All-Pro Team in 2007 and 2008
Charitable work
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 the Nashville Symphony and Country Music Hall of Fame.Bironas is a board member of the Nashville Symphony, and works to provide help to needy children through the Kicks for Kids program.