Former NFL Kicker Reported Missing Night he Died in Crash: The Tennessean
Former NFL kicker Rob Bironas was reported missing by his wife the night he died in a crash in Nashville because she found it unusual for him to leave without telling her, The Tennessean newspaper reported on Monday.
The newspaper also posted on its website a recording of a call made to emergency dispatchers that had the voice of another driver who said Bironas, a former kicker with the Tennessee Titans, tried to run her and her husband off the road.
Nashville police have said Bironas, 36, lost control of the sports utility vehicle he was driving at high speed around a curve on Saturday night. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The crash happened less than a mile from Bironas' home, and no evidence of drugs or alcohol was found, Nashville police said on Sunday.
Bironas played nine years for the Titans in the National Football League before he was released early this year. He held the NFL record for number of successful field goals kicked in one game, with eight in a 2007 game against the Houston Texans.
His wife, Rachel Bradshaw, called police on Saturday night to report him missing, according to The Tennessean, which posted to its website a copy of the police report.
Bradshaw, who is the daughter of former Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Terry Bradshaw, told police that Bironas said goodnight and she assumed he was going to bed but she later found he was no longer at their home, the police report said.
Bironas' wife reported him missing because it was unusual for him to leave without telling her, and she said he was not intoxicated, it said.
A Nashville police representative could not be reached for comment late on Monday.
In the 911 recording posted on the newspaper's website, a woman speaking to dispatchers from near the scene of the crash said she had pulled out of Bironas' way before he went off the road.
"We don't even know him, and he tried to run us off the road," the woman said on the recording.