Bill Gramatica
| No. 5, 7, 10, 11 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||||||
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| Born: | July 10, 1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| College: | South Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2001 / round: 4 / pick: 98 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Guillermo C. "Bill" Gramática (born July 10, 1978) in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Laura and William Gramatica. Bill is the younger brother to kicker Martin Gramatica and older brother to Santiago Gramatica. Laura and William Gramatica decided to move their little family from Argentina to the LaBelle, Florida in 1983. Bill graduated from LaBelle High School in the small town of LaBelle, Florida, as did his two brothers. As a former American football placekicker of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft and last played for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League in 2006. Bill currently lives in Tampa, FL with his wife Olga Gramatica and their daughter, Mila Gramatica born in 2013. After his somewhat short NFL career, Bill now serves as VP of Sales for Gramatica SIPS International (Structurally Insulated Panel Systems)
Early life
Guillermo “Bill” Gramatica made a culturally defiant decision, along with his brothers Martin and Santiago to leave Argentina to pursue a life kicking field goals. Despite their lack of proven skill, the brothers collectively decided to venture off the path of a promising soccer career to begin the somewhat unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous life of professional NFL players. When asked about his decision to depart from the culturally expected game of soccer, Bill stated: “As a kid in Argentina, the first thing you get is a soccer ball and a jersey, and you play ALL the time, you love it so much, it’s a passion. My brother, Martin, was like a father to us; he gave up his childhood for us. I decided to pursue college football instead of soccer because of him. I wanted to be successful, and I wanted to follow in my brother’s footsteps and not disappoint him.” –B. Gramatica October 13, 2013
Professional career
College Football
In contrast to his brother Martin, a high-profile player for Kansas state, Bill took a not-so-glamorous approach to the NFL through Division I-AA South Florida. However, before that, Bill was the starter for Florida State in 1997 until a freshman from Poland by the name of Sebastian Janikowski took over his job midway through the season eventually leading to his transfer to the University of South Florida. At USF he was a 1998 All American award recipient for being an outstanding student athlete. By the end of his time at the University of South Florida, Bill earned the most field goal records held at USF to include the ‘Longest Field Goal’ of 63 yards.
National Football League
Bill was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL draft in 2001 by the Arizona Cardinals. His NFL career began promisingly enough with the Cardinals until the 15th of December 2001 in a game against the New York Giants at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. After completing a 42-yard field goal early in the game, Bill jumped up in celebration, and upon landing, suffered from a torn ACL. The Giants won 17-13. After this his career wasn’t the same. Regarding this athletic mishap, Bill states “My jump was excellent, It was my landing I needed to work on. It was funny. It was part of my career. I talk about it all the time. You have to laugh about it.”. Gramatica ended his rookie year impressively with 16 field goals in 20 attempts. After two more seasons with the Cardinals, he signed with the New York Giants in the 2004 offseason, but was released during preseason and never played a regular game as a Giant. After that, he played one game for the Miami Dolphins in place of an injured Olindo Mare. Unfortunately, he was cut from the team when he missed an extra point kick (his first career miss), and the game ended in a one-point loss. In the NFL, he made 37 of his 48 field goal attempts and 60 of his 61 extra point attempts.
Arena Football League
In 2006, he returned to football as the kicker for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. In contrast to his NFL start, his Arena Football Career was lackluster in comparison. With a record of 65 in 71 extra points and 8 in 18 field goals, he wasn’t the Gramatica we saw in 2001. In his first AFL half, he missed one of the two extra point tries and all three of his field goal attempts.
Sports accomplishments
His sports career accomplishments include: two time All-American; East West Shrine All Star game player; and Blue Grey All Star game player, where he was voted 'Offensive MVP.' 'NFC Player of the Week' five times in three seasons with Arizona.
Personal life
During his time with the New Orleans saints, his brother Martin witnessed the devastation Katrina left and wanted to give back once his career came to an end. Together, Martin and Bill searched for a product to build houses out of that could withstand the forces of a hurricane. Together they have built resistant, affordable houses in New Orleans, Israel, Argentina, Tampa, and now focusing on Haiti. “Its really been rewarding to help out…We’re doing out best to find people to donate one building, one school, one village.” Bill stated in an article for AZCentral.com. “There is no better feeling than knowing you've made a positive impact in someone's life. It is our responsibility and privilege to help provide a safer, more energy efficient product that will reduce the cost of ownership.” - Martin, Bill, and Santiago Gramatica
The Gramatica family founded SIPS International in 2009, providing a full line of services involving Structural Insulated Panel Systems also known as SIPS. These Structurally Insulated Panels provide an environmentally friendly protection against extreme weather conditions like hurricanes, earthquakes, and other hazardous weather. SIPS International was founded by the Gramatica brothers; consisting of former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Martin Gramatica, Bill Gramatica, and former USF kicker Santiago Gramatica.
While in the Tampa Bay area, the Gramatica brothers saw the need to support deserving members of their community, especially combat wounded veterans. Through partnerships with other organizations they raise awareness and support bay area veterans returning from combat duty that may face health and financial challenges.
In order to assist a greater number of worthy local residents, the Gramaticas have founded the Gramatica Family Foundation; a non-profit whose mission is to provide energy efficient housing initiatives and development assistance to disabled military veterans, the underprivileged and the ailing.
Citation
"Bill Gramatica Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com." Pro-Football-Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.
Somers, Kent. "What's Up: Onetime Cardinals Kicker Bill Gramatica." What's Up: Onetime Cardinals Kicker Bill Gramatica. AZCentral.com, 21 Mar. 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Berrero, Jim. "Over Time, Gramatica Brothers Love This Game." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2001. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.
Notes