Nate Rau and Jim Wyatt

nrau@tennessean.com jwyatt@tennessean.com

A 911 call from Rob Bironas' wife on the night he died raises questions about the actual time the former Titans kicker left his home before confronting other motorists in two separate incidents of road rage minutes before crashing his SUV.

Bironas, 36, died Saturday night in a one-vehicle accident after he hit several trees and landed upside down in a drainage culvert on Battery Lane.

Rachel Bradshaw, who married Bironas in June, called police at 11:40 p.m. Saturday to report that he was missing. During the call, Bradshaw told the 911 dispatcher that she last spoke with her husband two hours earlier, around 9:40.

The 911 call contradicts details in a missing persons report released by Metro police Monday. In that report, police said Bradshaw told an officer she and her husband had been at home that evening watching a movie with a friend. She said her husband told her goodnight at 10:30 p.m. She thought he went to bed while she stayed up with the friend.

Later that night, Bradshaw could not find Bironas in the house. She called his cellphone, but he did not answer. After calling relatives, who said they had not spoken with him, she called police to report that he was missing.

Bradshaw told police it was unusual for Bironas to leave without telling her. She also told police he was not intoxicated but that he drank a beer earlier in the evening.

No record of stop

The time Bironas left his home is one of two discrepancies that emerged Tuesday as police continue to investigate the accident.

The other is a claim by a Belmont University student in a 911 recording that he saw a police car stop Bironas just moments after the former Titans kicker chased and threatened the student and three of his friends as they were riding in a pickup truck on Franklin Pike at 10:45 p.m.

Connor Fraley, a 20-year-old student, said he was a passenger in the truck that had been driving behind Bironas 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 Pike, and Bironas followed them. Fraley said they sped up to get away, but Bironas chased them.

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

"We had no idea who he was and why he was trying to harm us," Fraley told The Tennessean on Tuesday morning. "It was a fight or flight situation and, unfortunately, we had to take flight at about 110 miles per hour. It was very scary."

Fraley made a breathless call to 911 at 10:45 p.m.

"He's been swerving all over the road," Fraley told the 911 dispatcher. "We're exceeding the speed limit, but it's because he's literally trying to do whatever it takes to hit us."

Fraley described trying to elude Bironas, who followed the students from the intersection of Battery Lane and Franklin Pike going north toward Douglas Avenue and then weaving through residential areas. That's where Fraley said he saw blue lights pull behind Bironas.

"There's a police car right behind him, I think," Fraley said. "White SUV — yup, that's him. You guys got him right there."

The dispatcher asked Fraley again if Bironas was being pulled over during the call. Fraley initially answered yes but then said they lost sight of Bironas' car behind the tree line as they sped away.

"Yes ma'am, I believe so, I believe so," he said to the dispatcher.

"We were past the tree line and it cut off, and we saw the police turn their lights on behind him, pulling him over. And it was a white SUV, they were pulling the white SUV over."

The dispatcher asked the group to be available to speak to an officer after the call, and Fraley arranged to meet at a Belmont parking garage.

Fraley told The Tennessean that the students gave their side of the story to two officers.

Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron confirmed an officer met with the students after they encountered Bironas, but he said the students did not want to file a police report.

Aaron also said Metro police did not stop Bironas' SUV, as the students thought.

The department's research shows there is "absolutely no record of any traffic stop," Aaron said.

Second run-in

Not long after the call from the Belmont students, Bironas apparently went south on Franklin Pike and got into a separate road rage incident with a woman and her husband.

Aaron said the driver of the white SUV gave the couple a dirty look after nearly hitting their car while changing lanes on Franklin Pike heading south toward Battery Lane. The couple turned right on Battery Lane and pulled to the side of the road, and Bironas pulled up alongside the couple. The husband, who was in the passenger seat of the car, got out to confront Bironas.

At that point, the white SUV accelerated away at a high rate of speed, the couple told police. After pausing a few moments, the couple continued traveling on Battery Lane and came upon the crash. Bironas was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Early Tuesday, another woman told The Tennessean she witnessed Bironas' confrontation with the couple involved in the 911 call around 11 p.m., as she and her boyfriend were headed to a late movie.

While they were traveling down Battery Lane toward Franklin Pike, Daphne Lauderdale said, one car was pulled off the side of the road, and the white SUV was alongside it, partially in the road.

"As we got closer, the white SUV took (off) like a bat out of hell and passed us," Lauderdale, 44, said. "He passed us going very fast. We were like 'Holy crap, what was that?' It was startling how fast he was going. He was going very, very fast. He was stopped, and he just floored it."

Fraley, the Belmont student, said he hasn't slept since the incident.

"I am not trying to soil this guy's reputation or his legacy. I know this community thinks very fondly of him. I am just being honest, and I'm trying to get this off my chest. He tried to kill us. He told us he was going to try and kill us," Fraley said.

"I've never gotten a look from somebody like that, I just don't understand it. That's a face that's been in my head the last few days."

The fatal accident happened not too far from Bironas' home.

An autopsy on Bironas was conducted on Monday, and the body was released to the funeral home. It could be several weeks before results of a toxicology report are available.

Bironas played for the Titans from 2005 to 2013 before being released in March. He finished as the Titans' second all-time leading scorer with 1,032 points, and he set a franchise record scoring triple digits in seven straight seasons.

"Something was wrong. He was driving erratic and driving extremely fast in a very dangerous place," Lauderdale said. "We got out the next day and walked down the street to the accident site, and there were no skid marks, it didn't look like he hit the brakes at all.

"It's a shame. You make one bad decision or choice, and it cost him his life. That's a shame."

Chain of events

Conflicting documents make the exact timing of events unclear, but the following picture has emerged of Rob Bironas' last hours based on police reports and witness accounts:

1. Saturday evening: Rob Bironas is at home watching movies with his wife, Rachel Bradshaw, and a friend.

Sometime after 9:30, Bradshaw discovers he is not at the residence.

2. 10:45 p.m.: Four Belmont students encounter a white SUV driven by Bironas on Battery Lane at Franklin Pike. Bironas makes threatening comments and follows them, trying to sideswipe their vehicle during a chase with speeds in excess of 100 mph.

3. The students elude Bironas near Acklen Avenue near Wedgewood.

4. A couple encounters Bironas while traveling south on Franklin Pike between Woodmont and Battery Lane. He tries to merge into their lane, travels behind them and revs his engine.

5. The couple turns on Battery Lane and Bironas follows. They pull over to let him pass, and he pulls alongside their vehicle and stares them down, then speeds off.

6. 11:01 p.m.: Bironas loses control of his SUV, hits several trees and ends up in a drainage culvert on Battery Lane, upside- down.

Reach Jim Wyatt at 259-8015 and on Twitter @jwyattsports.