Football In Memoriam thread

[revo]

he just married Terry Bradshaw's daughter in June, too...

This story gets a bit stranger....

"Former Titans kicker Rob Bironas was reported missing by his wife less than an hour before he died in a fatal car crash on Saturday night.

Rachel Bironas called police on Saturday because she didn't know where her husband was. According to a police report from the incident, Rachel and Rob had been watching a movie with a friend when Rob decided to go to bed around 10:30 p.m.

A few minutes after Rob went to bed, Rachel went to look for him, but was unable to locate him. At that point, Rachel call Rob's cell phone several times, but no one answered. Rachel also called several relatives and asked if they knew where Rob was.

Rachel Bironas, the daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, told police that Rob may have had one beer over the course of the night. However, Rachel has no explanation for why Rob might have left, she also told police that she didn't get into a fight with Rob. The two Bironas' had been married since June.

As noted, Rachel last saw Rob at 10:30 p.m. The one-car crash that killed the Titans kicker happened less than 45 minutes later."

[revo]

and it doesn't have its own thread, but Caldwell Jones of the 76ers and Trailblazers died today at age 64. This is a touching final goodbye:

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2014/09/canzano_former_trail_blazer_ca.html

[revo]

This story gets a bit stranger....

"Former Titans kicker Rob Bironas was reported missing by his wife less than an hour before he died in a fatal car crash on Saturday night.

Rachel Bironas called police on Saturday because she didn't know where her husband was. According to a police report from the incident, Rachel and Rob had been watching a movie with a friend when Rob decided to go to bed around 10:30 p.m.

A few minutes after Rob went to bed, Rachel went to look for him, but was unable to locate him. At that point, Rachel call Rob's cell phone several times, but no one answered. Rachel also called several relatives and asked if they knew where Rob was.

Rachel Bironas, the daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, told police that Rob may have had one beer over the course of the night. However, Rachel has no explanation for why Rob might have left, she also told police that she didn't get into a fight with Rob. The two Bironas' had been married since June.

As noted, Rachel last saw Rob at 10:30 p.m. The one-car crash that killed the Titans kicker happened less than 45 minutes later."

And wow, in just the last hour, this story gets even stranger:

"Information surrounding Saturday night's fatal car crash involving former Titans kicker Rob Bironas is starting to come out, and the story has taken a bizarre turn. According to a report from The Tennessean, shortly before Bironas crashed his white SUV he attempted to run a woman off the road. She pulled over to let Bironas pass, and a few minutes later after resuming driving she came upon the site of the crash. From her 911 call:

"He is dangerous, he is drunk or something. He tried to start a fight with us,'' the woman said. "My husband ran down there to see what is going on. I just want to tell the police there is something wrong with him. He is dangerous, he is drunk or he is on drugs. There is something wrong with him. He gave us a mean look. We don't even know him, and he tried to run us off the road."

http://deadspin.com/report-rob-bironas-tried-running-someone-off-the-road-1637956350?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[revo]

And just when you thought it couldn't get any stranger......

"The story surrounding former NFL kicker Rob Bironas's fatal car crash continues to get weirder and weirder. Last night, it was reported that Bironas tried to run a woman off the road just minutes before crashing his car. Now, a college student is claiming that Bironas also accosted him and his friends on the same road, and tried to sideswipe the car they were in.

From The Tennessean:

Connor Fraley said he was a passenger in a vehicle driving behind Bironas' white SUV on Battery Lane when he and others in the truck noticed a burning smell coming from Bironas' vehicle.

"His window was down, and we pulled up and I said, "Hey man, just a heads up, something's burning from your exhaust. Your exhaust smells horrible, just wanted to let you know,'' Fraley recalled telling Bironas. "He looked over at me and said "I'm going to kill everybody in your (expletive) vehicle. It was so random, so bizarre I was like, "What?" And he said the exact same thing again."

Fraley said the Ford F-150 he was a passenger in turned left on Franklin Road, and Bironas followed them. Another Belmont student was driving the truck, Fraley was in the front seat and two female students were in the back seat. Fraley said they sped up to get away, but Bironas sped after them.

At one point, near the Thompson Lane overpass, "he tried to sideswipe the vehicle and missed us by a foot."

http://deadspin.com/report-rob-bironas-tried-to-run-multiple-cars-off-road-1638104744?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Erik]

Either he took PCP, or something went totally haywire in his brain. I can't think of any other possible explanation.

[Gregg]

Either he took PCP, or something went totally haywire in his brain. I can't think of any other possible explanation.

Sounds like Bath Salts.

[Erik]

As a kicker, he would be less likely to than most NFL players, but that's not to say he didn't. I don't remember anything specific about one or more concussions.

[onejayhawk]

Fifteen years ago KC's adopted son, Derrick Thomas, was taken from us.



J

[nullnor]

on the Rob Bironas thing, I remember reading a book about crazy defense court stuff. one of them was called the twinkie defense. another one was something like the sleepwalking defense were 2 girls knocked on a car window at a rest stop and the guy inside was supposedly sleeping and killed them I think. he successfully argued he was still asleep think when he did it, I think. also I think there are a few stories of ppl going crazy while on prescription sleeping drugs.

plus you factor there was a smell strong and weird enough that ppl driving behind can smell it. could be a combination of things. I might say he could've been in some state of sleep. your pre-frontal lobes are shut off, your amygdala is blasting away. definitely weird but it could happen. I think.

like in a dream, he had some kind of half asleep confrontation, and then fell asleep right after for real, then crashed.

[nullnor]

Ambien, a member of the class of medications known as hypnotics, was approved by the FDA in 1992. It was designed for short term use to combat insomnia and was a welcome change from the prevailing sleep aid at the time, Halcion, which had been implicated in psychosis, suicide, and addiction and had been banned in half a dozen countries. Ambien works by activating the neurotransmitter GABA and binding it to the GABA receptors in the same location as the benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium. The extra GABA activity triggered by the drug inhibits the neuron activity that is associated with insomnia. In other words, it slows down the brain. Ambien is extremely effective at initiating sleep, usually working within 20 minutes. It does not, however, have an effect on sustaining sleep unless it is taken in the controlled release form.

[Erik]

Chuck Bednarik, Hall of Famer, bedrock of the Eagles 1960 championship team, and one of the last great two-way players, died this morning at 89.

[heyelander]

Chuck Bednarik, Hall of Famer, bedrock of the Eagles 1960 championship team, and one of the last great two-way players, died this morning at 89.

Soon as I saw you were the poster in here, he was the guy I thought of. My worse fear was that it was Dutch. Any news on how he's doing?

[Erik]

Dutch is tumor-free, per an update about a month ago.

[heyelander]

Dutch is tumor-free, per an update about a month ago.

fantastic stuff!

[Erik]

Also, if it was about him I would have posted it on the corresponding thread in the Baseball Forum.