Jim Wyatt

jwyatt@tennessean.com

Two Belmont students say former Titans kicker Rob Bironas threatened to kill them and sideswipe the truck they were in before confronting a man and woman in another car and trying to run their vehicle off the road Saturday night. Minutes later, Bironas lost control of his SUV and died in a one-car crash.

Connor Fraley, a 20-year-old student, said he was a passenger in a pickup truck that Bironas tried to hit on Franklin Road during a high-speed chase, after Bironas made threatening comments at an intersection minutes earlier.

The allegations surfaced less than a day after another woman told police in a 911 call Saturday night that the popular Titans kicker tried to run her vehicle off the road just before crashing himself.

Bironas lost control of his SUV and hit several trees before ending up in a drainage culvert on Battery Lane, upside down. Bironas, who played nine seasons with the Titans, was 36.

A Metro police spokesman on Monday said the investigation into the fatal crash is "ongoing."

Early Tuesday, Fraley detailed a frightening encounter he and three other Belmont students had with Bironas around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, shortly after Bironas' wife called police to report him missing. The incident took place at the intersection of Battery Lane and Franklin Road, not far from where Bironas would later perish.

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."

"The girls in the back seat were starting to freak out because he was swerving on the road in between lanes, all over the place.'' Fraley said. "We had no idea who he was and why he was trying to harm us. 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 said he called police and talked to a 911 dispatcher for nearly the length of the incident, before the students managed to lose Bironas following a dangerous chase that continued on residential side streets. The students lost Bironas near Acklen Avenue, near Wedgewood. The students met with police officers later Saturday night on the Belmont campus. The driver of the vehicle gave an identical account to The Tennessean, but would only identify himself as "Spencer." Later, the students found out a white SUV crashed on Battery Lane, and the driver was killed.



The next morning, Fraley said his roommate texted him a photo of Bironas. He said he contacted a police dispatcher again on Sunday morning but was hung up on.

"As soon as I saw that face,'' he said. "I know for a fact that it was Rob Bironas in that vehicle chasing us."

Fraley said he got chills when he heard the 911 call from another woman who told police Saturday evening the white SUV tried to run her and her husband off the road after a road rage incident in the same area.

According to Metro police spokesman Don Aaron, the driver of the white SUV gave the couple a dirty look after nearly hitting their car while changing lanes on Franklin Road 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 traveling down Battery Lane toward Franklin Road, 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.

It came at the end of a night when Rachel Bradshaw, Bironas' wife, called police to report that her husband was missing after leaving around 10:30 p.m.

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

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 2005-2013 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."

Reach Jim Wyatt at 259-8015 or on Twitter @jwyattsports