Josh Lambo

Josh Lambo

refer to caption

Lambo in 2015
No. 2 San Diego Chargers
Position: Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1990-11-19) November 19, 1990
Place of birth: Lansing, Michigan
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 216 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school: Middleton (WI)
College: Texas A&M
Undrafted: 2015
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2016
FG Made: 39
FG Attempted: 46
FG %: 84.8
Longest FG: 54
Touchbacks: 71
Player stats at NFL.com
Josh Lambo
Personal information
Playing position 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.


Joshua Gregory "Josh" Lambo (born November 19, 1990) is an American football kicker for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He played college football at Texas A&M and is a former professional soccer goalkeeper.

Early years

Born in Michigan, Lambo moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois when he was a small child. He played club soccer for Chicago Magic (where one of his teammates was USA national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan),. 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. As a 15-year-old 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 proviso 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.

He 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 a PAT 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 41–38.[9] Lambo was flawless on extra points for the 2014 season, hitting on all 59 attempts.

Professional American football career

San Diego 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 Nick Novak. He displayed a strong leg during exhibition games, while Novak did not have a touchback in the final half of 2014.[12]

In 2015-16 season, he converted 26 of 32 field goal attempts.

References

  1. ↑ "Rating the goalkeepers". ESPN. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  2. ↑ FC Dallas’ Josh Lambo loaned to Tampy Bay Rowdies
  3. ↑ http://ussf.demosphere.com/stats/2010/1634172.html
  4. ↑ Goff, Steven (January 23, 2012). "Stats, scores and schedules". The Washington Post.
  5. ↑ http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/josh-lambo-meet-everton-reject-who-became-nfl-star#:Fyvxx9rolr8TBA
  6. ↑ http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/10/20/18/33/151020-u17mnt-josh-lambo-remembers-playing-for-us-soccer
  7. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/matches/round=249415/match=58922/index.html#statistics#nosticky
  8. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/people=273561/index.html
  9. ↑ http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/10/gameday-central-texas-am-at-ole-miss/
  10. ↑ Williams, Eric (May 3, 2015). "2015 San Diego Chargers undrafted free agents". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Four Aggies Get NFL Chance in Free Agency". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  12. ↑ 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.
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