Rob Bironas
Bironas (kicker) in November 2008 | |||||||||||
No. 2 Tennessee Titans | |||||||||||
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Placekicker | |||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Date of birth: | January 29, 1978|||||||||||
Place of birth: Louisville, Kentucky | |||||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||||
High school: Louisville (KY) Trinity | |||||||||||
College: Georgia Southern | |||||||||||
Undrafted in 2001 | |||||||||||
Debuted in 2005 for the Tennessee Titans | |||||||||||
Career history
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Roster status: Active | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics as of Week 6, 2013 | |||||||||||
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James Robert Douglas "Rob" Bironas (born January 29, 1978) is an American football placekicker for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). 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.
Early years
Bironas attended Trinity High School 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.
College career
Bironas attended Auburn University 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-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 coach Tommy Tuberville replaced Bironas, the preseason All-SEC kicker of the football team, with the punter, Damon Duval.[1][2] 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.
Professional career
Arena football
Bironas spent the 2003 season with the Charleston Swamp Foxes 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.
National Football League
Early career
Bironas spent time on the off season roster of the Green Bay Packers (2002), and preseason rosters with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (2004).
Tennessee Titans
In 2005, he signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Tennessee 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 has kicked 4 game winning field goals, including one of 60 yards against the Colts, which tied as the eighth 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 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.
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.
On March 8, 2013, the Titans and Bironas agreed to a two-year contract worth $6.7 million. He made roughly $2.85 million in 2012.
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 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 Andersen and Chris Boniol) - October 21, 2007 at Houston Texans
- 2008 Pro Bowl 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
- Most consecutive games with a 40+ yard yield goal in NFL history (10).
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.
Bironas is also a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity, where he contributes to charity and philanthropy.
Career statistics
FIELD GOALS
Season | PAT | PAT Pct. | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | FG-FGA | FG Pct. | Long | Points |
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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 |
2010 | 38/38 | 100.0% | 0/0 | 6/6 | 8/9 | 8/8 | 2/3 | 24/26 | 92.3% | 55 | 110 |
2011 | 34/34 | 100.0% | 0/0 | 5/5 | 9/10 | 9/10 | 6/7 | 29/32 | 90.6% | 53 | 121 |
TOTALS | 239/241 | 99.2% | 0/0 | 55/58 | 53/58 | 60/74 | 21/29 | 189/219 | 86.3% | 60 | 806 |
KICKOFFS
Season | KO | Avg. | TB | Ret | Ret Avg | TD | Onside | Recov |
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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 | 24.1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
2010 | 76 | 66.7 | 17 | 56 | 24.8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
TOTALS | 458 | 65.5 | 83 | 360 | 23.8 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
References
- ↑ February 11, 2009, 10:04 PM (2009-02-11). "Auburn Suspends Two Players". CBS News. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
- ↑
External links
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Joshua Cribbs |
AFC Special Teams Player of the Month 2007 Season - October |
Succeeded by Joshua Cribbs |
Preceded by Matt Stover |
AFC Special Teams Player of the Week 2007 Season - Week 7 |
Succeeded by Mike Scifres |
Preceded by Roscoe Parrish |
AFC Special Teams Player of the Week 2006 Season - Week 13 |
Succeeded by Maurice Jones-Drew |
Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by Gary Anderson |
Tennessee Titans Placekickers 2005-present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Current starting placekickers in the National Football League (as of Week 17 of the 2013 NFL season) | |||
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American Football Conference | |||
AFC East
Dan Carpenter (Buffalo Bills) |
AFC North
Justin Tucker (Baltimore Ravens) |
AFC South
Randy Bullock (Houston Texans) |
AFC West
Matt Prater (Denver Broncos) |
National Football Conference | |||
NFC East
Dan Bailey (Dallas Cowboys) |
NFC North
Robbie Gould (Chicago Bears) |
NFC South
Matt Bryant (Atlanta Falcons) |
NFC West
Jay Feely (Arizona Cardinals) |