Josh Lambo

Joshua Gregory Lambo (born November 19, 1990) is an American football placekicker 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 is the third-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history behind Justin Tucker and Harrison Butker.[1]

Josh Lambo
Lambo with the Chargers in 2015
No. 4 – Jacksonville Jaguars
Position:Placekicker
Personal information
Born: (1990-11-19) November 19, 1990
Lansing, Michigan
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:215 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 2020
FG Made:128
FG Attempted:144
FG %:88.9
Longest FG:59
Touchbacks:191
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR
Josh Lambo
Personal information
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)
* 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.[2]

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.[3] He made his professional debut on May 14, 2010 in a 2–1 victory over the Carolina RailHawks.[4]

Lambo was waived by Dallas at the end of the 2011 season. He went on trial with D.C. United[5] and Sheffield United[6] 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.[7]

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[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11][12] 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.[13]

In the 2015 season, Lambo converted 26-of-32 field goal attempts.[14]

On September 2, 2017, Lambo was released by the Chargers after losing the starting kicker job to rookie Younghoe Koo.[15]

Jacksonville Jaguars

On October 17, 2017, Lambo signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.[16] 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.[17]

In Week 8 of the 2018 season, Lambo kicked a new career-long 57-yard field goal against the Philadelphia Eagles.[18] He was placed on injured reserve on December 28, 2018 with a groin injury.[19]

On February 13, 2019, Lambo signed a four-year, $15.5 million contract extension with the Jaguars.[20] 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.[21] In Week 7, Lambo hit all four of his field goals and an extra point in a 27-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, earning him his second AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award of the season.[22]

On September 23, 2020, Lambo was placed on injured reserve with a hip injury.[23] He was activated on October 22.[24] In Week 9, Lambo kicked a career-long and franchise-tying 59-yard field goal. However in the same game, he re-injured his hip on an onside kick attempt and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on November 9, 2020.[25]

Personal life

Lambo married his wife Megan in June 2018.[26]

References
  1. "NFL Field Goal % Career Leaders". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  2. "Rating the goalkeepers". ESPN. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  3. "FC Dallas' Josh Lambo loaned to Tampy Bay Rowdies". Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Goff, Steven (January 23, 2012). "Stats, scores and schedules". The Washington Post.
  6. "Josh Lambo: Meet the Everton reject who became an NFL star". January 6, 2016.
  7. "Life Between the Posts: NFL Kicker Josh Lambo Remembers YNT Career". www.ussoccer.com.
  8. FIFA.com. "FIFA U-17 World Cup Korea 2007 - Matches - Belgium-USA - FIFA.com". FIFA.com.
  9. "FIFA Tournaments – Players & Coaches – Josh LAMBO". FIFA.com.
  10. "Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38: Johnny Manziel, Aggies survive, win last-second thriller over Ole Miss". chron.com. October 13, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  11. Williams, Eric (May 3, 2015). "2015 San Diego Chargers undrafted free agents". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  12. "Four Aggies Get NFL Chance in Free Agency". KBTX.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  13. 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.
  14. "Josh Lambo 2015 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  15. Henne, Ricky (September 2, 2017). "Los Angeles Chargers Cut Down Roster to 53". Chargers.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017.
  16. Oehser, John (October 17, 2017). "Jaguars sign K Lambo, release K Myers". Jaguars.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017.
  17. Perroni, Brian. "Former A&M K Lambo wins game against team that cut him". Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  18. "Philadelphia Eagles at Jacksonville Jaguars - October 28th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  19. "Payne, Lee, Flowers to active roster". Jaguars.com. December 28, 2018.
  20. Teope, Herbie (February 13, 2019). "Jaguars re-sign K Josh Lambo for 4 years, $15.5M". NFL.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  21. Bergman, Jeremy (October 2, 2019). "Nick Chubb, Jameis Winston among Players of the Week". NFL.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  22. Bergman, Jeremy (October 23, 2019). "Aaron Rodgers, Jacoby Brissett among Players of the Week". NFL.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  23. "Jacksonville Jaguars place K Josh Lambo on injured reserve, will miss three weeks". Big Cat Country. SB Nation. September 23, 2020.
  24. "Jaguars Make Roster Moves". Jaguars.com. October 22, 2020.
  25. "Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo out for season after second hip injury; Aldrick Rosas re-signed". Jacksonville.com. November 9, 2020.
  26. "Jags Kicker Josh Lambo's Wedding Pictures Are In!". firstcoastnews.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
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