Josh Lambo
No. 2 – San Diego Chargers | |||||||||||||
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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 | |||||||||||||
College: | Texas A&M | ||||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2015 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of 2015 | |||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||
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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) |
International career | |||
2007 | United States U17 | 2 | (0) |
2008–2009 | United States U20 | 4 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
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.[citation needed] He played club soccer for Chicago Magic (where one of his teammates was USA national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan),.[citation needed] 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]
References
- ^ "Rating the goalkeepers". ESPN. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
- ^ FC Dallas’ Josh Lambo loaned to Tampy Bay Rowdies
- ^ http://ussf.demosphere.com/stats/2010/1634172.html
- ^ Goff, Steven (January 23, 2012). "Stats, scores and schedules". The Washington Post.
- ^ http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/josh-lambo-meet-everton-reject-who-became-nfl-star#:Fyvxx9rolr8TBA
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/10/20/18/33/151020-u17mnt-josh-lambo-remembers-playing-for-us-soccer
- ^ http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/matches/round=249415/match=58922/index.html#statistics#nosticky
- ^ http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/people=273561/index.html
- ^ http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/10/gameday-central-texas-am-at-ole-miss/
- ^ 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". 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.
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External links
- San Diego Chargers profile
- Texas A&M profile
- MLS player profile
- Josh Lambo – FIFA competition record (archived)
- 1990 births
- Living people
- American football placekickers
- American soccer players
- Association football goalkeepers
- FC Dallas draft picks
- FC Dallas players
- USSF Division 2 Professional League players
- Tampa Bay Rowdies players
- Texas A&M Aggies football players
- United States men's under-20 international soccer players
- United States men's youth international soccer players
- Major League Soccer first round draft picks
- Sportspeople from Chicago, Illinois
- People from Dane County, Wisconsin
- People from East Lansing, Michigan
- Soccer players from Wisconsin
- San Diego Chargers players
- Undrafted National Football League players
- Footballers who switched code