Super Bowl 2024: Martin Gramática, the Argentine who was king in the USA before Messi and who today saves lives

Twenty years earlier Messi will reach the InterMiamianother Argentine who entered the history of sport United States of America: in 2003, Martino Grammatica He achieved the unthinkable and became the champion of NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneerstaking the Super Bowl XXXVII against the Oakland Raiders 41-28.

At Super Bowl 2024, the LVIII to be more precise, which will be disputed between Kansas City Chiefs AND San Francisco 49ersit is worth remembering the memory of the Argentine who was king of the most popular sport in the United States.

That glorious night in 2003 in San Diego, California, the first and so far only superbowl For an Argentine, this man from Buenos Aires with a past as a footballer turned into a footballer soccerhe broke it: he scored two field goals and added six conversions, with one hundred percent effectiveness, contributing 12 points keys for your team.

Gramática was champion and in the post-match he showed his South American blood in the notes ESPN next to a young man John Sutcliffededicating the victory to “all the idiots who didn’t trust us”, with an unmistakably Maradonian tone.

Installed in Yankee soil since he was 9 years old, and today at 48, Gramática has relived all those emotions when Messi wore the pink jersey, now feeling the pride of seeing another Argentine realize the “American dream” promised in these latitudes.

“We are happy to have him in the MLS and here so close,” Martín said Clarion from the city of Tampa, three hours from the stadium where Lionel plays. There he settled with his wife, Ashleeand their three children, two boys and a girl, all passionate about football and very Argentinian even though they were born seven thousand kilometers from Buenos Aires.

Martín made his name in the USA thanks to the NFL but the Gramaticas have football (with the accent on the “u”) as their first passion. As a boy, in fact, he tried his hand as a footballer in Mexico, an alternative that he ended up giving up on a more secure future as a “footballer” soccer. It was a college coach who saw the potential in his right leg and suggested that path, with the possibility of a scholarship and a college future.

The former Buccaners, with experience also in great franchises such as Indiana Colts, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, crowned his sons’ dream of silver by taking them to a friendly match with the national team and they met Messi in person: They took some pictures, he gave Leo a Bucs t-shirt, and they chatted for a bit.

“I arrived here when I was very little but I have always maintained my Argentine roots, I have three children and they all turned out to be passionate about football; We are fans of Boca and the national team. Nico and Gastón, the two boys, turned to American football to enter university, which is much easier. Emi, the girl, chose what is called “football” here, which is more popular among girls,” explains Gramática, who hung up her boots in 2008. The “little girl,” as she puts it, shows she has conditions with the number 5.

The Gramáticas are a family of athletes: Ashlee, Martín’s wife, was a tennis player during her university days and worked as assistant to Gigi Fernández, a professional remembered on the WTA circuit in the 1980s who as a doubles player won 17 major tournaments Slam and 2 Olympic golds…

However, the Gramática couple are now responsible for another project, related to health.

“We have a company that does preventive scans, to detect diseases like cancer or heart disease early. They are detected before symptoms appearwhich often allows them to be treated in time and facilitates treatment, without having to undergo chemo or radiotherapy,” explains Martín.

He started in that sector as a patient: he went with his wife to try the system and was delighted by such an opportunity that science offered him, excluding or anticipating a risky disease. “I have three children, I want to see them grow up and enjoy life with them as much as possible, and this seemed extraordinary to me,” recalls MG7.

They offered him to do commercials but he preferred to enter the business fully, as part of the company. Two years ago he opened an office in Tampa and then expanded to other cities in the Florida area.

“In our program we offer annual ultrasounds, which you can pay for once or in five-year packages. People don’t even know they exist because they don’t appear in health insurance, and it’s not very widespread here because there are only five offices that have the technology across the country. I’ve been very involved, it’s very exciting to see the effect it has on people,” says the former NFL player.

Martín says that statistically every day at least one person who undergoes the study discovers some treatable condition, “that he didn’t know he had inside”. The five-year combination, the most “convenient”, costs around 5,500 dollars, around 1,100 dollars per visit.

“There are many people who call us and thank us. Personally, I have six people close to me who have been saved, one with football in his heart, another with cancer. A friend’s wife had a tumor the size of a baseball softball, already very advanced, but luckily in the kidney and they removed it in time; the doctor told him that if six months had passed it would have spread to other organs. It’s very motivating, every week we receive calls with stories like that to thank us”, says the Argentine.

Super Bowl, NFL, Messi and the round

Gramática is a legend for the Latino audience that follows the NFL and is constantly present on TV as a game analyst with the convenience of being able to do so in English or Spanish.

Of course, right now is located in Las Vegas waiting for the big game between Chiefs and San Francisco, a duel that will be played this Sunday starting at 8.30pm (Argentine time).

He has a championship ring and owes much to a setback from his beginnings as a highly competitive athlete, when he tore ligaments and spent an entire year strengthening his body, becoming an American football athlete. He also had to refine his football technique: the ball soccer It’s different from everything.

“You have 1.3 seconds to coordinate all the movements with your teammates and kick, with wind, rain and snow at times. Add the helmet and shoulder pads. It’s something you learn repetition after repetition, and where the head plays a lot” , Gramática details, that his childhood in Argentina was divided between life in San Isidro and the city of Olavarría, in the province of Buenos Aires.

Despite the distance and decades away from their roots, at Gramática they drink mate, eat barbecue and watch Boca and the national team matches.

“My three boys were born here but they say they are Argentinians, I think they say it more for Messi than for me”, laughs Gramática and nails it in the corner.