This One Is Going To Bear Watching: Could We Have Another Sacrifice to the Altar of Football?

Over the weekend, we learned of the death of former Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas.

One car crash.

On surface, it wouldn't mean that much.

Except we now have two reports over the last two days, according to Deadspin, which indicate something might've gone down here.

Late yesterday, it was reported that an eyewitness had come forward and said Bironas (who had been released from nine years with the Titans this offseason) had tried to run her off the road that night, minutes before the fatal accident.

He appeared angry, and, as the 911 call the witness made said, could've been drunk.

Except for one problem:  He told his wife, about 10:30, that he was going to bed.  There was no fight, no domestic violence, nothing.  No drinks nor apparent drugs.  But when his wife went in to check on him, he was gone!

According to The Tennessean, that would've been approximately 30 minutes or so before the crash took place.

Now, another report today, another eyewitness...  Again, Deadspin through The Tennesseean:

"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.""

 [...]

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

There are really only two options.

One is CTE, that he took a couple shots to the head, maybe at lower levels of football, or by some special-teams idiots wanting to make a statement on the opponent's kicker.

The other?  A drug like Ambien, as one Deadspin commenter pointed out:

"Ambien. That'd be my guess, anyway. Wouldn't be the first time someone violently and irrationally and blamed the sleep aid for their behavior."

(Hat-tip to my anonymous friend again)