Bill Gramatica Celebrated Too Hard and Paid the Price

Published on January 11th, 2024 3:44 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


It was December 15th, 2001, and the Arizona Cardinals were playing the New York Giants in a largely meaningless game.

Both teams entered the game with 5-7 records, and both teams were largely looking towards the next season.

Not Arizona Cardinals field goal kicker Bill Gramatica, however.

For some reason only known to himself, Gramatica was very, very pumped up for the game.

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Halfway through the first quarter of the game, Bill Gramatica kicked a 42-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Gramatica jumped into the air while doing an exaggerated fist pump.

Unfortunately for Gramatica, he didn't land properly, and the Arizona field goal kicker immediately clutched at his leg.

Despite the injury, and despite Gramatica knowing that something was seriously wrong, he elected to stay in the game, where he impressively kicked another field goal, as well as an extra point.

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The bad news for Gramatica? His celebration had resulted in the shredding of his right ACL, and he was declared out for the season the following week.

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In 2001, Bill Gramatica was a rookie, so maybe he can receive some slack for being too immature to properly handle himself on the field.

Gramatica would play three more seasons in the NFL, where he would kick a total of 37 field goals on 48 attempts.

Gramatica does, however, hold the distinction of incurring one of the more embarrassing injuries in the history of the NFL.