What got into Rob Bironas before he was killed in a car crash?

I'm not sure what got into Bironas, but here's a pic of what Bironas was getting into....

 

M-m-m-my, Bironas . . .

 

This is a really strange story. Part of me hates myself for wanting to know more. But I want to know more.

 

Drugs, mental illness, or a combination.

 

I keep expecting the, "OK, this is who Rob Bironas was," story to pop up on ESPN or SI or somewhere. Someone good has to be trying to rush that story out, right?

 

If I'm the wife of any current St. Louis Ram, I'm quietly upping the life insurance on my husband.

 

People in both cars confronted by Bironas mention smoke coming out the exhaust and the students mentioned it smelled really bad. That's kind of weird. I wonder if he was overcome by some kind of fumes. Or if he was just so messed up he wasn't shifting gears or something.

Others have mentioned Ambien, which has been known to cause some people to sleep walk or sleep drive.

Really strange.

 

Was watching Real Sports last night, and Urban Meyer was talking about how he used to take two Ambien and chase it with a beer just so he could sleep. Bironas' wife said he had "one beer," so it could be the case here, too.

 

If that's the case, I guess it will come up in toxicology reports.

 

I take Ambien occasionally, and I am fine for about 30 minutes. My goal is to get comfortable in bed, and let it knock me out. I take it for migraine relief at night only.

But after those initial 30 minutes, when it kicks in, there is another window of about an hour in which I am entirely functional, but I will have absolutely no recall what I did during that hour. Amnesia.

Scary stuff. I make sure the car keys are put away, and never do anything but try to get to sleep.

 

I've taken Ambien a few times. The first time, I didn't realize how potent they were so I took it and then went and rocked my (then) infant to sleep. Looking over at the bed, the teddy bear looked like an angry gorilla. I had enough sense to realize it was the Ambien so I stayed calm, put the kid in bed and then went to bed. But I told my wife never again was I holding the kid after taking one.

Second time I took one, I figured I'd take it, go put a couple of dishes in the sink, put on my pajama pants (it was winter), pour a second glass of water and go to bed. Five minutes tops. I was loopy before even pouring my drink and I can't promise I got my pants on correctly. I did find a really weird scene (from the novel I was (still am) writing) on my laptop the next day. It was only a page and a half but I had no recollection of writing it. It was incoherent but it was grammatically correct, for the most part.

So, ever since then (maybe twice since), I don't take it until I'm lying in bed.