TAMPA, Fla. — The Gramatica family is famous for kicking field goals.
Martin was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of 1999 NFL Draft. Then there’s Bill and Santiago, who each played at the University of South Florida. Bill also played in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins.
But there are two more Gramaticas, Martin’s sons, looking to follow in those footsteps. Nico is a junior, and Gaston is a freshman at Cambridge Christian School.
“Holding with Nico is so much fun because we have always been close,” Gaston said. “I get to help him as much as I can.”
“It’s awesome that he can hold for me, and we can practice whenever,” Nico added. “It’s great I can have him on my side.”
This will be their first season the brothers will be playing varsity football together.
“First of all, you never blame your brother,” Martin said. “But when it’s your brother, it’s a lot easier to blame than a friend. If you guys fight, I’m kicking both your butts, and you’re never playing again.”
They’ll listen to dad; after all, he’s a Super Bowl-winning kicker for the 2002 Bucs team. Martin, along with Santiago, is passing all of their experience down the family line.
“It’s great to have all these kickers in the family,” Nico said. “They all see my kicking and can see and help me with anything I have wrong. Anything I need to work on, they can always tell me.”
“It’s awesome,” Gaston said. “I know whoever I can go to, my uncle, my dad, my brother, they all just want the best for me. I want the best for them, and we always help each other.”
Nico, 16, has a big leg. His longest field goal in practice is 55 yards. His kickoff is 65 yards. He is a five-star high school prospect and rated as the top kicker in the 2024 recruiting class.
“I don’t really pay attention to that, but it is nice to be ranked,” he said. “I just want to focus on my game and getting better each day.”
During the game, Nico handles the place-kicking and kickoffs while Gaston holds and punts. Ultimately, the makes and misses (mostly makes) don’t matter for Martin.
“Family first, we got to stick together,” Martin said. “They’re growing really close, really tight. To me, that’s more important than anything.”
