Twenty years before
Messi
arrived at
Inter Miami
, another Argentine entered the history of sports in the
United States
: in 2003,
Martín Gramática
achieved the unthinkable and became
NFL
champion with the
Tampa Bay Buccaners
, winning the
Super Bowl XXXVII
against Oakland Raiders 41-28.
A few hours before
Super Bowl 2024,
the LVIII to be more precise, which will be played between
the Kansas City Chiefs
and
the San Francisco 49ers
, it is worth remembering the Argentine who was king in the most popular sport in the United States.
That night of glory in 2003 in San Diego, California, in the first and so far only
Super Bowl
for an Argentine, this Buenos Aires man with a past as a soccer player and converted into an
American soccer
kicker , broke it: he scored two field goals and added six conversions, with 100% effectiveness, providing
12 key points
for his team.
Gramática was champion, and in the post-match he showed his South American blood in the notes for
ESPN
alongside a young
John Sutcliffe
, dedicating the victory to "all the idiots who didn't trust us", with an unmistakable Maradonian tone.
See this post on Instagram
A post shared by Martin Gramatica (@martingramatica7)
Installed in Yankee soil since he was 9 years old, and today at 48, Gramática relived all those emotions when Messi put on the pink shirt, now feeling the pride of seeing another Argentine fulfilling the "American dream" that is promised in these latitudes.
"We are happy to have him in the MLS and here so close," Martín told
Clarín
from the city of Tampa, three hours from the stadium where Lionel plays.
There he settled with his wife,
Ashlee
, and his three children, two boys and a girl, all soccer fans and very Argentinian even though they were born seven thousand kilometers from Buenos Aires.
Martín made his name in the US thanks to the NFL but the Gramaticas have football (with an accent on the "u") as their first passion.
In fact, he tried his hand as a soccer player in Mexico as a boy, an alternative that he ended up giving up in the face of
a safer future as a
football
kicker
.
It was a college coach who saw potential in his right leg and suggested that path, with the chance of a scholarship and a university future.
The former Buccaners, with a career also in large franchises such as Indiana Colts, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, fulfilled his children's "argento" dream when he took them to a National Team friendly and they
met Messi in person
: they took photos , he gave Leo a Bucs jersey and they chatted for a while.
Messi with Gramática's children, in their first meeting a few years ago.
Photo: Instagram.
"I came here when I was very little but I always maintained my Argentine roots, I have three children and they all turned out to be football fans;
we are fans of Boca and the National Team
. Nico and Gastón, the two boys, turned to American football to enter the University, which becomes much easier. Emi, the girl, chose what is called "soccer" here, which is more widespread among girls," explains Gramática, who hung up her boots in 2008.
The "baby", as she says, demonstrates have conditions with number 5
.
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A post shared by Martin Gramatica (@martingramatica7)
The Gramáticas are a family of athletes: Ashlee, Martín's wife, was a tennis player in her university days and worked as an assistant to Gigi Fernández, a remembered professional on the WTA circuit in the eighties who as a doubles player won 17 Grand Slams and 2 Olympic golds. .
However, the Gramática couple today are in charge of another project, linked to health.
"We have a company that does preventive scans, to detect diseases such as cancer or heart pathologies in advance. They are detected
before symptoms appear
, which often allows you to treat them in time and makes it easier to cure them, even without having to undergo chemo or radiation," explains Martín.
He began in that industry as a patient: he went with his wife to try the system and was delighted by such an opportunity that science offered, ruling out or anticipating a risky disease.
"I have three children, I want to see them grow up and enjoy life with them as much as I can, and this seemed extraordinary to me," MG7 recalls.
Martín Gramática turned to medicine a little over two years ago.
They offered him to do commercials for the company, to be a kind of ambassador, but he preferred to get fully involved in the business, getting involved behind the counter as part of the firm.
Two years ago he opened an office in Tampa and through great dedication he managed to expand to other cities in the Florida area.
"In our program we offer annual scans, which you can do once, or get a package for five years. Most of the time people don't even know that these tests exist because they are not listed in health insurance, they are not covered. I got very involved. , it's very exciting to see the effect it has on people," says the former NFL.
Martín says that statistically every day at least one person who undergoes the study discovers some curable condition, "that they didn't know they had inside."
The five-year combo, the most "convenient", is around $5,500, about $1,100 per visit.
Martín Gramática, the Argentine who celebrated his field goals like no one else.
"There are a lot of people who call us later and thank us, that is very gratifying. I personally have six close people who have been saved, one with calcium in the heart, another with cancer. A friend's wife had a tumor the size of a softball, already very advanced, but luckily it was in the kidney and they removed it in time; the doctor told him that if six months passed it would spread to other organs. It is very mobilizing, every week we receive called with stories of that type to thank us," says the Argentine.
Super Bowl, NFL, Messi and the round
Gramática is a legend for the Latin public that follows the NFL and has a constant presence on TV as a game analyst thanks to his experience as a player and the ease with which he can do so in both English and Spanish.
Furthermore, she has had a neighborhood accent since she was born, which gives a different color to his comments.
Of course, right now
he is in Las Vegas
waiting for the great game between the Chiefs and San Francisco, a duel that will be played this Sunday from 8:30 p.m. (Argentine time).
Martín Gramática, present in Las Vegas to cover Super Bowl LVIII for TV.
Martín already has a championship ring and owes a lot to a setback from his beginnings as a highly competitive athlete, when he tore his ligaments and spent a whole year strengthening his body: he stopped being just a kicker to become a football.
He also had to almost constantly refine his kicking technique.
"You have 1.3 seconds to coordinate all the movements with your teammates and kick, with wind, rain and snow sometimes. Add the helmet and shoulder pads. It is something that is learned repetition after repetition, and where the head plays a lot" , details Gramática, that his childhood in Argentina was divided between living in San Isidro and in the city of Olavarría, in the province of Buenos Aires.
Martín Gramática and his right hand with the Tampa shirt and the Colts.
Despite the distance and decades away from their roots, at the Gramáticas they drink mate, eat barbecue and watch Boca and the National Team matches.
"My three boys were born here but they say they are Argentine, I think they say it more for Messi than for me," Gramática laughs, and nails it in the corner.
Gramática's male children with Messi, a dream come true.