For kicks, Gramatica signed as a possible replacement

April 07, 2006|Jerome Solomon, Globe Staff

Martin Gramatica, once cleverly billed as ''Automatica," is first in line to replace the irreplaceable Adam Vinatieri, a.k.a. ''Mr. Automatic."

The Patriots signed Gramatica, a veteran free agent, yesterday two weeks after losing Vinatieri to the Indianapolis Colts. Coincidentally, Indianapolis was the last NFL home for Gramatica.

Gramatica, who was not in the league last season, last kicked in 2004, a season in which he was released by Tampa Bay two days after missing a trio of field goals (one was blocked) against the Panthers in the 11th game of that season. A week and a half later he signed with the Colts, serving as the team's kickoff specialist for the final four games of the regular season.

He underwent surgery last June to repair tears in his lower abdomen and adductor muscle, injuries he says were responsible for his erratic kicking in 2003 and '04. The injury is the same one Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had surgery to repair in February.

Gramatica attacked rehab with a vigor and was at full strength during last season, but did not sign with a team.

''I told him, 'I feel bad that you're here with me; you need to be on TV on Sundays winning football games,' " said Jason Biles, a physical therapist who worked with Gramatica at the Bollettieri Sports Medicine Center at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. ''He was kicking 50-plus-yard field goals with me, over and over, and not many people can do that.

''He has that strength back now, and it's amazing . . . great focus, great intensity in his workouts, and he was determined to get back to kicking as quickly as possible. He's been ready for some time."

Gramatica, a 30-year-old born in Argentina, is looking to revive a career that began with numbers that put him among the top kickers in the game. A Pro Bowl selection in 2000, Gramatica is Tampa Bay's all-time leading scorer with 591 points in six seasons (1999-2004), including the franchise's top three scoring seasons (128 points in 2002, 126 in 2000, and 106 in 1999).

But Gramatica, who made two field goals in the Buccaneers' Super Bowl XXXVII victory over Oakland, seemed to lose it in 2003 and '04, making only 27 of 45 field goal attempts. In his first four seasons in the league, Gramatica's worst percentage was 79.3 (23 of 29 in 2001), but he made just 61.5 percent (16 of 26) in '03 and 57.9 percent (11 of 19) in '04.

The high-strung Gramatica is in some ways the opposite of the cool, even-tempered Vinatieri. Though he doesn't have a reputation for late-game heroics -- he has delivered five winning field goals in his career, compared with Vinatieri's 20 -- when he is right, he has a stronger leg than the Patriots' Super Bowl hero, and five times in his career Gramatica has made four or more field goals in a game.