Martin Gramatica Talks Abusive Upbringing In New Memoir

Martin Gramatica is opening up about his difficult childhood ... saying he didn't truly realize how hard life as a young boy was until he had children of his own -- something he writes about in his new memoir.

TMZ Sports recently chatted with the longtime NFL kicker and Super Bowl champion about "Beyond The Uprights: The Intimate Memoir Of Martin Gramatica."

"I had a very abusive father that I speak about," Gramatica told Babcock, adding he wasn't broaching the topic for sympathy. The opposite, as a matter of fact.

"I want to make sure people don't read the book and say feel sorry for me, because everything that I lived, it made me a better person and made me a better father."

Martin continued ... "It made me know what not to do with my kids. I want to make sure that if somebody reads the book and realizes 'I need to break this,' and I want somebody to realize it sooner than when I did. I didn't realize how bad it was until I had my first son when Nico was born."

Of course, that was nearly 20 years ago ... and with Martin as his dad, Nico's grown up to follow in pop's footsteps -- he's the placekicker for the University of South Florida football team.

Gramatica says he made an agreement with his brothers ... that they'd break the cycle started by their dad.

"I love that kid so much that you're thinking, 'How can I ever do what my father did to me?' So that's what I feel. I talked to my brothers and we made a pact. We got to break this," Martin said.

"We haven't spoken [to our dad] since because we just don't want that type of abuse around our families. I have three kids. My brother Santiago has two kids, so we don't want that around our kids. That's what the book's about."

MG's book isn't only about heavy topics ... he says there's a bunch of other topics he delves into, including his SB win with the Tampa Bay Bucs!

"There's a lot of good stuff, too, about the Super Bowl. There's a lot of quotes. Obviously, Tony Dungy did the forward, which I couldn't be happier about."

Gramatica says he also talks about some of his NFL great teammates like Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks, among others.