The New England Patriots, fresh off the loss of kicker Adam Vinatieri to the Colts, have decided to take a chance on former Buccaneers kicker Martin Gramatica. Once known as Automatica, as well as known as the brother of former Cardinals kicker Bill Gramatica, he fell out of favor a couple of seasons ago when his kicks started flying wide to either side or just falling short. He was eventually replaced by Jay Taylor, who had played previously in the Arena League and was sent to Tennessee but supplanted by fantasy points machine Rob Bironas, also an Arena League veteran.
The Patriots have a history of turning once-mediocre players into stars. Can they do it with Martin Gramatica? They hope so:
Kicker Martin Gramatica, who was out of football all of last season, was signed by New England Thursday as a potential replacement for the departed Adam Vinatieri.[...]
Vinatieri, who kicked last-minute field goals to win two Super Bowls for New England, signed last month with Indianapolis.
Gramatica was one of the NFL's better kickers early in his career with Tampa Bay, which began in 1999. He made the Pro Bowl in 2000.
But his performance fell off badly in 2004, when he made just 11-of-19 field goals and was cut after 11 games. For his career, he has made 76.5 percent of his career field goal attempts (137-of-179) and 11-of-12 attempts in the playoffs.
So they've seen that he had a bad season, but could potentially rebound and return to his former glory. Plus, he does have a Superbowl ring from the 2002/3 season. If he's 11-of-12 in the playoffs, it means he can handle the pressure.
I make no bones about the fact that I'm not in any way a fan of the Patriots except for the fact that Tom Brady is a very dependable fantasy quarterback. I almost hope that this personnel move doesn't work out for them... but I don't wish Martin Gramatica any personal ill will.
The Patriots are hoping that Martin becomes Automatica once more. The rest of the league -- and all the anti-Patriots out there -- not so much.
Josh Cohen blogs primarily at Multiple Mentality, but also at Wizbang Pop, Sports, and Bomb Squad.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
New England Patriots
