Rob Bironas' Record 8 Field Goal Game: A Kicker's Historic Feat

[00:00:00] On October 21st, 2007, in a game where the Tennessee Titans traveled down to face off against the Houston Texans,

[00:00:08] the unsung hero of the football team, the kicker for Tennessee, Rob Bironas, hits 8 field goals during the game,

[00:00:18] helping lead his team to victory and setting the record for the most field goals ever in a game.

[00:00:25] Today we're going to dive into how Rob was able to do this and how he made it to this point on Daily Sports History.

[00:00:38] Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge.

[00:00:48] And today's trivia question to listen out for is, what NFL team first signed Rob Bironas?

[00:00:57] Now if you played fantasy football in the mid-2000s, then you probably know who Rob Bironas is,

[00:01:04] as his name was commonly used for fantasy football names, as his last name Bironas sounded like my Sharona.

[00:01:13] And punny names in fantasy football is all the rage.

[00:01:17] But it took Rob a long time to make it to the NFL, and it was a dream of his that he did one day achieve.

[00:01:23] And actually, most NFL kickers have a long, tiresome journey to make it to the field and a challenge to keep it.

[00:01:33] As kickers in football are one of the most scrutinized players on the team,

[00:01:37] and the easiest to love when they make their field goals and hate when they miss.

[00:01:42] So Rob grew up in Kentucky, just outside Louisville, and he was actually a four-time letter winner in soccer.

[00:01:49] And actually lettered twice in football and swimming, as well as lettering one year in track.

[00:01:54] And he graduated in 1996, where he didn't get any scholarship offers,

[00:01:58] but he walked on to Auburn's football team in 1997, where he played there until 1999.

[00:02:05] And he ended up being a semi-finalist for the Lou Garza Award in 1998,

[00:02:10] for the best kicker in the nation, after he made 12 of his 16 field goals,

[00:02:14] and two of them being from 49 yards. And he also made all 18 PAT kicks and led the Auburn team in points with 54.

[00:02:23] So you would think, you have this kicker, he's doing great, he's one of the best kickers in the nation,

[00:02:29] you're all set a kicker for the next year.

[00:02:31] But head coach Tommy Tuberville actually had some falling out with Rob,

[00:02:35] and even though Rob was an all-SEC preseason kicker for the team,

[00:02:39] he decided to have their punter, Damian Duvall, take over kicking duties.

[00:02:44] And in doing this, Rob didn't want to give up his chance to actually kick his final year,

[00:02:49] so he transferred to Georgia Southern so he could play his final year.

[00:02:52] Because at the time, if you transferred to another Division I school,

[00:02:57] you had to wait a year before you could play.

[00:02:58] But if you went down a level in NCAA, you could play right away.

[00:03:03] So he went down to the FCS, or at the time, Division I AA,

[00:03:08] to play for Georgia Southern, where his brother actually was on their soccer team,

[00:03:12] to finish out his final year of college eligibility.

[00:03:14] And it was a perfect time, as he helped them win the national championship in the Division IIA,

[00:03:21] finishing out his career on a high note.

[00:03:24] So after his college career was over, he started to try out for a few teams.

[00:03:28] And this is actually not uncommon, even at small schools.

[00:03:31] I coached at a Division III school, and we even had a few teams come out to try some of our players out.

[00:03:36] In 2022, he would actually get signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent.

[00:03:43] Now, for kickers that get drafted, it's very uncommon.

[00:03:46] You have to be one of the better kickers in the country.

[00:03:49] But you also just have to have great skill.

[00:03:52] It's very hard to get drafted as a kicker.

[00:03:53] Kickers have a hard life.

[00:03:55] Lots of kickers have to try out, try out, try out.

[00:03:57] And it is one of the few positions in the NFL that gets cut and picked up, signed.

[00:04:03] Kickers bounce around more in the NFL now than ever because it's a difficult skill,

[00:04:09] and it's pass or fail as a position.

[00:04:12] You either went in or you didn't.

[00:04:13] You don't really have a gray area.

[00:04:16] It's he made it or he missed it.

[00:04:19] And so it's very difficult.

[00:04:20] And so even though he got signed by the Packers and went through their training camp,

[00:04:24] he was released before the season started, which is not uncommon.

[00:04:27] Lots of teams sign at least two kickers for their preseason and then end up cutting one

[00:04:32] before the season.

[00:04:33] So there's competition for their kicker.

[00:04:35] Very common in the NFL.

[00:04:37] So what he does is he goes and joins the Arena Football League, which is a league that we will

[00:04:42] have to cover in the future.

[00:04:43] But it is a kind of a minor league football where it's done in arenas, done in basketball

[00:04:49] arenas.

[00:04:49] So the field is smaller and the goals are smaller, including the goalposts.

[00:04:54] As the NFL has the uprights 18 feet, six inches apart.

[00:05:00] So quite wide overall.

[00:05:03] But in the AFL or the Arena Football League, they have their dimensions of the field are

[00:05:08] shrunk a lot.

[00:05:10] And so are their field goals.

[00:05:12] And so the field goal for AFL are only nine feet apart.

[00:05:17] So it's very hard.

[00:05:18] So he signed with the Charleston Swamp Foxes and made 12 of 27 field goals during that

[00:05:24] season.

[00:05:25] Not a very good rate if you were in the NFL with that larger space, but it's not bad for

[00:05:30] the AFL.

[00:05:30] And in the 2003 offseason, he got signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, got released again,

[00:05:35] went back to the AFL, did this again, got signed by the Steelers, got released again, went to

[00:05:40] the AFL.

[00:05:41] He kept doing this over and over.

[00:05:42] And he said if he didn't make it to the NFL, an actual NFL season by the time he was

[00:05:47] 28, he would give up.

[00:05:48] It was a good thing he did this.

[00:05:50] It gave him a goal.

[00:05:51] It gave him time to keep trying.

[00:05:53] And in 2005, he signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Tennessee Titans, where he

[00:05:59] actually made it through the whole preseason and was officially signed to the team.

[00:06:04] And that first season, he converted 23 of 29 field goals for a 79% field goal rate and

[00:06:11] made 30 of 32 extra points.

[00:06:13] And at that time, the extra point was moved closer where they snapped the ball at the two

[00:06:17] yard line.

[00:06:18] And so it was a lot easier than it is now.

[00:06:20] But he used this to continue to gain more of his confidence.

[00:06:24] And in 2006, he actually hit a 60 yard field goal versus the Indianapolis Colts, which is

[00:06:31] tied for the eighth longest in NFL history.

[00:06:34] Now, currently, the record for the longest field goal is 66 yards done by Justin Tucker in 2021.

[00:06:41] But at the time when Rob hit this field goal, the record was 62 yards.

[00:06:48] So he was just two yards shy of the all time record.

[00:06:51] In 2017, he was in a groove.

[00:06:53] And even in October, he was named AFC player of the month, where he hit 13 out of 14 field

[00:07:01] goals, made all his extra points.

[00:07:03] And the Tennessee Titans went 3-1 that month.

[00:07:07] Now, one of the reasons he had such a great month was what happened on October 21st, 2007

[00:07:14] in a game versus the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

[00:07:19] Now, this was just a divisional game between the Titans and Houston.

[00:07:23] They play each other two times a year.

[00:07:25] Nothing unusual about it.

[00:07:26] A divisional rivalry.

[00:07:28] But Rob was going to do something very different.

[00:07:31] He was going to set a record.

[00:07:32] Coming into the game, Houston was 3-3 and the Titans were 3-2.

[00:07:38] So two very evenly matched.

[00:07:41] So the game starts and Tennessee Titans had a pretty good offense for the day.

[00:07:46] Now, just because you hit field goals instead of getting touchdowns does not mean you have

[00:07:51] a bad offense.

[00:07:51] It means you were good enough to get close to kick a field goal.

[00:07:55] So they start out.

[00:07:56] The first, Rob Barones hits a 52-yard field goal.

[00:07:59] So they take the lead.

[00:08:00] But the Texans come back and score a touchdown off a fumble.

[00:08:04] So the Texans have the lead.

[00:08:05] And Rob comes in to end the quarter as the Titans stall out close to the goal line.

[00:08:11] And he kicks a 25-yard field goal.

[00:08:14] Then starts the second quarter.

[00:08:15] And they stall out again near the goal line.

[00:08:18] And he kicks a 21-yard field goal.

[00:08:20] Giving them the lead 9-7.

[00:08:22] Then the Titans are able to score a rushing touchdown.

[00:08:25] And Rob kicks an extra point.

[00:08:27] Then again, Rob kicks a 30-yard field goal.

[00:08:31] And then as time expired in the half, he kicked a 28-yard field goal.

[00:08:35] So in the first half, he had five field goals and an extra point.

[00:08:40] Accounting for 16 of the team's 22 points in the first half.

[00:08:45] And they had the lead as they were winning 22-7.

[00:08:49] A very dominant lead.

[00:08:50] And they came out in the second half again like they had been coming out.

[00:08:54] As Rob hit a 43-yard field goal.

[00:08:56] And then they scored another touchdown where Rob kicked an extra point.

[00:09:00] So at this point, it was 32-7.

[00:09:02] The Titans are rolling.

[00:09:04] It is almost a blowout.

[00:09:06] But the Texans do not give up.

[00:09:08] As they go and score back-to-back touchdowns.

[00:09:11] And the Titans almost score again.

[00:09:13] But they fail to punch it into the end zone.

[00:09:15] And Rob has to kick a 29-yard field goal.

[00:09:18] And then the Texans go and score two more back-to-back touchdowns.

[00:09:23] Making it 36-35.

[00:09:27] The Titans are now down.

[00:09:28] And have to go on a final drive.

[00:09:31] In order to even win the game.

[00:09:33] But luckily, they know they only have to get into field goal range.

[00:09:38] As Rob had been on fire.

[00:09:40] At the time, he had tied the record for the most field goals in the game.

[00:09:44] With seven.

[00:09:44] And as they got in his range.

[00:09:46] He could get the record.

[00:09:48] And Vince Young led the Titans down a drive.

[00:09:51] Getting them into field goal range.

[00:09:53] As Rob hit a 29-yard field goal.

[00:09:56] Setting the record.

[00:09:57] As time expired.

[00:09:59] And giving the Titans the win.

[00:10:01] So everyone was cheering for him at this moment.

[00:10:04] He was a star of the day.

[00:10:06] And it wasn't because he had to kick these long field goals.

[00:10:09] He kicked one field goal over 45 yards.

[00:10:13] All his field goals were close.

[00:10:14] His offense was having a good day.

[00:10:16] They just couldn't finish it.

[00:10:18] And because he was consistent and made all his field goals.

[00:10:22] They were able to win the game.

[00:10:23] If he would have missed one.

[00:10:25] They would have lost.

[00:10:26] That's how it was.

[00:10:27] He was that good.

[00:10:28] That's why he was the AFC player of the month.

[00:10:30] And he would go on to finish the season.

[00:10:32] Help leading the team to a 10-6 record.

[00:10:35] Making it to the playoffs.

[00:10:36] And be named an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler for the first time.

[00:10:41] And following that season.

[00:10:42] He would get a $1.4 million contract for one year.

[00:10:49] And again, he was successful that year too.

[00:10:51] And he got another contract in 2009.

[00:10:54] Which was a four-year deal worth $12 million.

[00:10:59] And had $5 million guaranteed.

[00:11:01] He had reached his dream.

[00:11:04] That he decided not to give up on.

[00:11:06] And it was now paying off.

[00:11:08] He would continue to kick for the team until 2013.

[00:11:11] When he retired.

[00:11:13] After being released by the Tennessee Titans.

[00:11:17] Which unfortunately.

[00:11:17] But he had made enough money to retire on.

[00:11:20] And enjoy life.

[00:11:21] He had gotten married to Rachel Bradshaw.

[00:11:24] Who is the daughter of Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

[00:11:28] And they got married in 2014.

[00:11:30] As he had just retired the year before.

[00:11:33] As he was retired, married.

[00:11:35] And then on September 20th.

[00:11:37] That same year.

[00:11:38] He would die in a car crash.

[00:11:40] Where he lost control of his car.

[00:11:42] And swerved off the road.

[00:11:43] Flipping several times.

[00:11:44] And hitting several trees.

[00:11:46] And ended up being pronounced dead at the hospital.

[00:11:48] And sadly.

[00:11:49] This was due to him.

[00:11:51] Having a blood alcohol level.

[00:11:53] Almost three times over the legal limit.

[00:11:55] Leaving behind his wife.

[00:11:56] And his legacy.

[00:11:58] And his life.

[00:11:58] A sad way to end.

[00:12:00] An otherwise great.

[00:12:02] Fought for life.

[00:12:05] And if you want to learn more about the Tennessee Titans.

[00:12:08] Check out Tennessee Titans Weekly.

[00:12:11] Where hosts Lorenzo and Jacques take you through all that's gone on with the Tennessee Titans that week.

[00:12:16] Helps you prepare for the games.

[00:12:17] What happened previously in the games.

[00:12:19] And what are they thinking.

[00:12:21] Great place if you're a fan.

[00:12:23] Or want to grow your knowledge.

[00:12:24] And if you enjoyed today's episode.

[00:12:28] Please like and subscribe wherever you are at.

[00:12:31] So you do not miss a single episode.

[00:12:33] And come back tomorrow for more daily sports history.

[00:12:39] And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question.

[00:12:43] What NFL team first signed Rob Barronis.

[00:12:46] And that answer is the Green Bay Packers.

[00:12:49] Even though he never played for them.

[00:12:51] And only played in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans.