Retired NFL kicker Martin Gramatica shares heartbreaking details about 'abusive father'
During his ten-year NFL career, Martin Gramatica kicked for four different teams.
Gramatica last appeared in an NFL game in 2008, the second year of his two-year stint with the New Orleans Saints.
Now 49, Gramatica opened up about his past when he sat down with TMZ to discuss his memoir, “Beyond The Uprights: The Intimate Memoir Of Martin Gramatica.”
Gramatica talked about what he experienced in his childhood, especially the strained relationship he had with his father.
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Retired kicker Martin Gramatica of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers watches pregame events during a game against the San Francisco 49ers Dec. 15, 2013, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
Super Bowl-winning kicker describes father as “abusive”
“I had a abusive father that I am talking about,” Gramatica told the press.
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But he insisted that he did not talk or write about the past, wanting to sympathize with him.
“I want to make sure that people don't read this book and say, 'Have mercy on me,' because everything I've been through has made me a better person and a better father,” said Gramatica.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Martin Gramatica runs out of the tunnel before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., August 29, 2015. (Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)
Gramatica said his father set an example of the kind of relationship he did not want to have with his children.
“It made me know what not to do with my children. I want to make sure that if someone reads this book and realizes, 'I need to break it,' and I want someone to see it sooner than when I did it. 'I realize how bad it was until I had my first son when Nico was born. “
Nico Gramatica is a local player for the South Florida Bulls.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Martin Gramatica goes after a first quarter, 24-yard field goal, August 23, 2003, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
Martin's challenging relationship with his father led to a reconciliation between Martin and his siblings.
“I love that child so much that you think, 'How can I do what my father did to me?' So, that's what I'm hearing and I talked to my brothers, and we made an agreement that we should break this.
“We haven't talked yet [to our dad] because we just don't want that kind of abuse in our families. I have three children. My brother Santiago has two children. So, we don't want that around our children. That's what the book says.”
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Gramatica kicked at Kansas State before making the jump to the NFL in 1999. He spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning the Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2002.
He finished his soccer career with a career field goal percentage of 76.4%.
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