In his role as Chief Operating Officer for USF athletics, NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks oversees administration for football and men's basketball. He took a couple of days off this weekend to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio.
And while speaking with host Vic Carucci on Sirius XM radio, Brooks was asked about the value of place-kickers to NFL teams. The subject came up because Adam Vinatieri was about to become only the third place-kicker to join the 387-member Hall -- Jan Stenerud and Morten Anderson are the others.
Brooks quickly extolled the contributions Martin Gramatica made to the Bucs during his seven years with the team.
"I think of how many games Martin Gramatica won for us. where the defense, real tight, he come in, and many boots went through. At my Hall of Fame speech, I thanked the right toe of his because he won a lot of games for us that came down to the end, so I definitely see the value in, again, in those moments," Brooks said.
Martin, of course, is the father of current USF kickers Nico and Gaston Gramatica. On Friday, Nico was named to the preseason Lou Groza Place-Kicker Award watch list. He is starting his third season with the Bulls while Gaston is an incoming freshman.
Their uncles -- Bill and Santiago Gramatica -- also kicked for USF.
Carucci, who votes for the Hall of Fame, asked Brooks about what position players think as they're grinding through training camp while specialists stand idly on the side.
"I never, honestly, really paid much attention to it to have a negative opinion about it. For me, I kind of was feeling like, sorry for them, because they probably were bored out of their minds and needed to find something to do to keep them occupied, like a baseball player, playing 162 (games)," he said.
"But I didn't honestly, I did not think much of it because with the personality of our guys doing my career, they were part of the guys. They did not alienate themselves away from everybody. None of our specialists did in my tenure with the Bucs, so we never really thought to give them some ribbing, or mess with them in some comedic manner,"
Brooks said he appreciates the pressure kickers can face, particularly in game-winning situations.
"They only have one shot to get it right. If I miss a tackle, then in any point in the game, I could probably have an opportunity to make that up," he said.
"Again, the mental part of this. You want them to be in their right space for them to do something."
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