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© St. Petersburg Times, published November 19, 2001
TAMPA -- Martin Gramatica knows about the emotional blender kickers face, but that doesn't make it easier to handle.
A week after his 35-yard field goal with four seconds left gave the Bucs a 20-17 win at Detroit, Gramatica had an opportunity to complete a frantic comeback against Chicago and send the game into overtime Sunday.
But his 48-yarder clanked off the right upright as time elapsed, adding a 27-24 loss to a season in peril and another painful miss to the career of a kicker who has been among the league's most reliable.
"Martin has made a lot of big kicks for us," coach Tony Dungy said. "The game does not fall on him. It should not fall on him on the last play."
Gramatica said he knew it did not have a chance.
"I was hoping it would drift," he said. "It was going for the right upright the whole way. Usually, right-footed kickers will hook (the ball) a little bit, and this one stayed true."
The 2000 Pro Bowl selection is 66-for-80 lifetime and 11-for-14 this season, having missed from 52 and 53 yards before Sunday. He made his three previous tries against the Bears -- from 25, 38 and 26 yards. "You can't explain it. It's the worst feeling in the world," Gramatica said. "All the players and coaches and fans are depending on that one kick, and you don't come through. It's hard to describe."
Gramatica implored his coaches to let him attempt a 68-yarder Nov. 4 at Green Bay. But Brad Johnson threw an incompletion on the last play of the 21-20 loss.
A field goal would have gone a long way toward exorcising a 40-yard miss at Lambeau Field in a 17-14 overtime loss last season that cost the Bucs the NFC Central title, a playoff bye and home-field advantage in the playoffs -- and sent them to an icy doom in the first round of the playoffs at Philadelphia.
A tough one to shoulder for a player becoming known as "Automatica."
Gramatica still has the team's confidence.
As he walked off the field alone Sunday, he was intercepted near the tunnel by Warren Sapp, who cupped Gramatica's helmeted head in his hand and imparted a few words.
Sapp wouldn't share his message but shared his thoughts on Gramatica.
"All of us would bet our lives that was going through the uprights, so I'd be dead in a heartbeat," Sapp said. "I'd bet my life on Martin every time."