Age: 29
6th
season in pro football, 3rd in NFL & with Titans
College: Georgia
Southern
Height: 6’0” Weight: 205
Prelude:
Bironas
originally attended Auburn University and was successful on 12 of 16 field goal
attempts in 1998. He transferred to Georgia Southern for his final year of
eligibility and went to training camp with the Green Bay Packers in 2002, Tampa
Bay Buccaneers in ’03, and Pittsburgh Steelers in ’04, but failed to make it to
the regular season in each instance. Bironas was with the Charleston Swamp
Foxes, a minor league arena team, in 2003 and in the Arena Football League with
the Carolina Cobras in ’04, where he was successful on 18 of 40 field goal
attempts, and New York Dragons in 2005, connecting on 7 of 16 field goal tries.
Bironas finally caught on in the NFL with the Titans in 2005 and, in his first
two years with the club, made good on 45 of 57 field goal attempts, including a
60-yard game-winner against the Colts in 2006, one of several clutch kicks.
2007 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Kicking
Field goals –
35 [1]
Most field
goals, game – 8 at Houston 10/21
Field goal
attempts – 39 [1, tied with Mason Crosby]
Most field
goal attempts, game – 8 at Houston 10/21
Field goal
percentage – 89.7 [4]
PATs – 28
PAT attempts
– 28
Longest field
goal – 56 yards at Denver 11/19
Scoring
Field Goals –
35
PATs – 28
Points – 133
[4]
Postseason: 1
G (AFC Wild Card playoff at San Diego)
Field goals –
2
Field goal
attempts – 3
PATs – 0
PAT attempts
– 0
Longest field
goal – 44 yards
Awards & Honors:
1st
team All-NFL: AP, Sporting News
Pro Bowl
Titans went 10-6
to finish third in the AFC South. Lost AFC Wild Card playoff to San Diego
Chargers (17-6).
Aftermath:
Bironas spent
another six seasons with the Titans. He remained consistent and his leg
strength continued to make him accurate from long range and accounted for many
touchbacks on kickoffs. His post-2007 high for field goals was 29, which he
reached in both 2008 and 2011, and his best field goal percentage was 92.3 in
2010, when he was 24-of-26. The Titans chose to release him following the 2013
season and he tragically died in a car crash in September 2014. Over the course
of nine NFL seasons, all with Tennessee, Bironas kicked 239 field goals in 279
attempts (85.7 %) and was successful on 315 of 317 tries for extra points,
never missing one after his first year, for a total of 1032 points. His
eight-field goal performance against the Texans in 2007 remains the league
record.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
