Josh Lambo
Joshua Gregory Lambo (born November 19, 1990) is an American football kicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and then signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 17, 2017. He played college football at Texas A&M and is a former professional soccer goalkeeper.
Lambo with the Chargers in 2015 | |||||||||||||
No. 4 – Jacksonville Jaguars | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Lansing, Michigan | November 19, 1990||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 216 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Middleton (Middleton, Wisconsin) | ||||||||||||
College: | Texas A&M | ||||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2015 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||||||
|
Personal information | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Playing position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||
2005–2008 | IMG Soccer Academy | |||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||
2008–2011 | FC Dallas | 0 | (0) | |||||||
2010 | → FC Tampa Bay (loan) | 6 | (0) | |||||||
National team | ||||||||||
2007 | United States U17 | 2 | (0) | |||||||
2008–2009 | United States U20 | 4 | (0) | |||||||
Honours
| ||||||||||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Early years
Born in Lansing, Michigan, Lambo moved with his family to Crystal Lake, Illinois when he was a small child. He played club soccer for the Chicago Magic before moving to Middleton, Wisconsin in the summer of 2005, where he attended Middleton High School for less than two months before signing a Generation Adidas contract and joining the USA Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida. At the age of 15, he spent the summer training with Everton F.C. during their US tour in 2006 on the recommendation of US international Tim Howard and was invited to Finch Farm before being offered a professional contract on the provision that he could secure an EU passport due to his Greek heritage.[1]
Professional soccer career
Club career
Lambo was drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas. He played in the MLS Reserve Division, and was a named first team substitute on several occasions, but missed most of the second half of the 2008 season after he broke his jaw in a reserve team game. Lambo never played in an MLS match, but did appear for his team in an international friendly match versus Costa Rica’s CS Herediano in June 2009.
Lambo was loaned to USSF Division 2 Professional League expansion team FC Tampa Bay for the 2010 season.[2] He made his professional debut on May 14, 2010 in a 2–1 victory over the Carolina RailHawks.[3]
Lambo was waived by Dallas at the end of the 2011 season. He went on trial with D.C. United[4] and Sheffield United[5] in January 2012. After turning down offers from the NASL and the chance of becoming a MLS pool goalkeeper, he retired from professional soccer at the age of 21.[6]
International career
Lambo made two appearances for the United States U-17 national team during the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup after starting the competition as a substitute. He made his debut in the third and last group stage match against Belgium, playing the whole game and keeping a clean sheet against a side that fielded future Premier League players Eden Hazard and Christian Benteke[7] and was the goalkeeper in the 2–1 loss against Germany in the round of 16. He was an unused substitute for the United States U-20 national team at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[8]
College years
In the Fall of 2012, Lambo enrolled at Texas A&M University and joined the football team as a placekicker. He became starting field goal kicker after overtaking Taylor Bertolet during the 2013 season (Bertolet remained the kick-off specialist). His first career appearance came on September 22, 2012 when he made an extra point against South Carolina State. His first game-winning field goal came against Ole Miss on October 12, 2013. With the game tied at 38 and only four seconds remaining in the game, Lambo kicked a 33-yard field goal to win the game for the Aggies.[9] Lambo converted all 59 extra point attempts for the 2014 season. He went on to compete in the 2015 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
Professional American football career
San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers
On May 2, 2015, after going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft, Lambo signed a contract as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers.[10][11] Lambo was brought in for competition for the kicker spot. On September 5, Lambo won the starting job over the incumbent veteran Nick Novak. He displayed a strong leg during exhibition games, while Novak did not have a touchback in the final half of the 2014 season.[12]
In the 2015 season, Lambo converted 26-of-32 field goal attempts.[13]
On September 2, 2017, Lambo was released by the Chargers after losing the starting kicker job to rookie Younghoe Koo.[14]
Jacksonville Jaguars
On October 17, 2017, Lambo signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.[15] On November 12, 2017, Lambo made a game-winning 30 yard field goal in overtime to give the Jaguars a 20-17 win over his former team, the Chargers.[16]
In Week 8 of the 2018 season, Lambo kicked a new career-long 57 yard field goal. He was placed on injured reserve on December 28, 2018 with a groin injury.[17]
On February 13, 2019, Lambo signed a four-year, $15.5 million contract extension with the Jaguars.[18] In Week 4, Lambo converted two extra points and went 4-for-4 on field goals, including the game-winning 33-yarder as time expired in a 26-24 win over the Denver Broncos, earning him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[19] In Week 7, Lambo hit all four of his field goals and an extra point in a 27-17 win over the Bengals, earning him his second AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award of the season.[20]
Personal life
Lambo married his wife Megan in June 2018.[21]
References
- "Rating the goalkeepers". ESPN. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
- "FC Dallas' Josh Lambo loaned to Tampy Bay Rowdies". Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Goff, Steven (January 23, 2012). "Stats, scores and schedules". The Washington Post.
- "Josh Lambo: Meet the Everton reject who became an NFL star". January 6, 2016.
- "Life Between the Posts: NFL Kicker Josh Lambo Remembers YNT Career". www.ussoccer.com.
- FIFA.com. "FIFA U-17 World Cup Korea 2007 - Matches - Belgium-USA - FIFA.com". FIFA.com.
- "FIFA Tournaments – Players & Coaches – Josh LAMBO". FIFA.com.
- "Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38: Johnny Manziel, Aggies survive, win last-second thriller over Ole Miss". October 13, 2013.
- Williams, Eric (May 3, 2015). "2015 San Diego Chargers undrafted free agents". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "Four Aggies Get NFL Chance in Free Agency". Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
- Gehlken, Michael (September 5, 2015). "Chargers choose Josh Lambo, cut Nick Novak". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015.
- "Josh Lambo 2015 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
- Henne, Ricky (September 2, 2017). "Los Angeles Chargers Cut Down Roster to 53". Chargers.com.
- Oehser, John (October 17, 2017). "Jaguars sign K Lambo, release K Myers". Jaguars.com.
- Perroni, Brian. "Former A&M K Lambo wins game against team that cut him". Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "Payne, Lee, Flowers to active roster". Jaguars.com. December 28, 2018.
- Teope, Herbie (February 13, 2019). "Jaguars re-sign K Josh Lambo for 4 years, $15.5M". NFL.com.
- Bergman, Jeremy (October 2, 2019). "Nick Chubb, Jameis Winston among Players of the Week". NFL.com.
- Bergman, Jeremy (October 23, 2019). "Aaron Rodgers, Jacoby Brissett among Players of the Week". NFL.com.
- https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/data/sports/jags-kicker-josh-lambos-wedding-pictures-are-in/77-574320712
External links
- Jacksonville Jaguars bio
- Los Angeles Chargers bio
- Texas A&M Aggies bio
- Josh Lambo at Major League Soccer
- Josh Lambo – FIFA competition record