Foxes' Bironas Signs with Reigning World Champion Buccaneers
Published on August 18, 2003 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Charleston Swamp Foxes News Release
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - The NFL's defending World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed former Charleston Swamp Foxes' kicker Rob Bironas on Saturday. He will get his first action tonight on a national stage as the Bucs travel to the St. Louis Rams for a preseason Monday Night Football match-up.
Buccaneers' current kicker, the animated Martin Gramatica, has not kicked in a week due to a groin strain. That dropped all of the field goal and kickoff duties to German kicker Ralf Kleinmann, a former NFL Europe standout.
On Saturday, the Bucs added a little help in the form of first-year kicker Rob Bironas, who joined the squad with a one-year contract. Bironas lettered at Auburn in 1998 before transferring to Georgia Southern for his senior season in 2000. Last spring, the Green Bay Packers signed him as an undrafted rookie, but released him during training camp.
Bironas, listed as number 17 on the Buccaneers' roster, joined the Swamp Foxes' camp four games into the season. In 12 games, he set both the single-game and single-season records for field goals. He also became the career field goal leader for Charleston, connecting on 12-of-27 attempts for the Foxes during the record setting 9-7 season.
Five of Bironas' 12 made field goals were from 30 yards or longer, including a team-long 45-yard boot in the home win over Columbus. He was also a perfect five-for-five between 20 and 29 yards. Bironas finished third on the team in scoring, amassing 94 points with his leg.
"We're going to look at him as a guy to help us in kickoffs, and we'll see," said Bucs head coach Jon Gruden. "We think Ralf (Kleinmann) will handle the placement kicks, but we just met (Bironas) today so he'll get some snaps with our battery and we'll make that determination by the time we kickoff.
The Bucs were able to sign Bironas without releasing a player, as both CB Torrie Cox and RB Tony Taylor were lost for the season due to knee injuries.
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