In the late 19th century, when the Victorian football codes were still to become the sports we recognize today, there was plenty of room for crossover. Today such transitions between football, rugby and soccer are not so simple, and it’s a rare creature who makes the switch nowadays.
But Josh Lambo is a unique case study: a goalkeeper who left MLS to become a placekicker in the NFL.
At one point in the not-too-distant past, Lambo was considered one of the most promising goalkeepers in the United States. If US soccer has produced one world-class commodity over the years, it’s been goalkeepers. Tim Howard likely ranks as the pick of the pack. Further back in line might be Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller, Brad Guzan and Tony Meola.
For Lambo, becoming a goalie seemed a realistic possibility. It was a sterling set of performances for the US U-17 team at the 2007 World Cup that provided the springboard for his entrance into professional soccer. FC Dallas duly selected him in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft on a Generation Adidas contract. Top-flight soccer beckoned. He was only 17. Yet just four years later, aged 21, he was lost to the game, cut by Dallas before he could make a competitive top-team appearance – and either unable to secure another club or unwilling to pursue opportunities further down the US soccer pyramid.
So he went back to school, to Texas A&M. In between times, he sought out coaching from family friend and former New Orleans Saints kicker Taylor Mehlhaff. It quickly became apparent Lambo might have what it takes to make the grade. In College Station, he was a walk-on. A successful one: 21 of 25 field goals made in two seasons, the most accurate kicker in school history.
That makes soccer’s loss the gain of the struggling San Diego Chargers. After apparently failing to impress at the NFL Combine, Lambo was signed as an undrafted rookie.In San Diego, he wasted little time before taking his opportunity to shine. In pre-season, he displaced veteran placekicker Nick Novak to become first-choice and took with both hands a second chance at pro sports.
A background in soccer isn’t uncommon among NFL kickers. But shapeshifting from one to the other at the professional level is almost unheard of, if at all. Meola tried. The former Kansas City Wizards and New York MetroStars No1 made 100 appearances for the US national team and was between the sticks during the 1994 World Cup. Afterward, he turned to football, joining up with the New York Jets. The hope was that he could prosper as a kickoff specialist. But Meola, recently appointed head coach of NASL outfit Jacksonville Armada, did not get beyond preseason, unable to master the technique.
During the season so far, Lambo has hardly rested on his laurels. He is 18-of-20 in field goals so far this season. In an otherwise forgettable contest for the Chargers, he drilled a 52-yard field goal for the Bolts’ only points of the game – and his second above 50 yards. Thus far, his rookie season is generally regarded as a solid one, a rare plus point for his team.
When he speaks, Lambo has the air of a man with a singular focus. A second bite at the cherry, so to speak, is not always common in pro sports. Ditto sentiment. “I am happy with how things are going,” Lambo told the Guardian. “I’m fortunate to have this opportunity. I know how blessed I am to have this chance. Not a lot of people get a second chance like this. I’m determined to make the most of it and I’m only concentrating on doing the right things and making sure I give my all.”
He references the mechanical adjustments behind his success. The change in kicking technique was an initial hurdle, as was the different shape of ball. Elsewhere, he is looking to improve his touchback percentage from kickoffs. On the technical side, punting, where he plays the role of back-up, does not come naturally, being counter-intuitive to the way he would kick a soccer ball.
But Lambo’s ambitions are lofty. He aims to emulate someone like Robbie Gould, the placekicker for the Chicago Bears. Patience can be thin for those who make a habit of missing field goals like the one Lambo did against the Cleveland Browns. In the end, he was afforded a second attempt following an infringement, and he won his team the game. He put the miss down to a momentary lapse. “Like in golf,” he says, “you lift your head and you end up slicing it.”
Lambo has yet to make the error look like it could become a habit. He should keep it that way, according to former NFL special teams coordinator Gary Zauner, considered one of the best kicking coaches in the country.
“There’s been several young kickers get cut already because they don’t make everything like the veteran kickers,” Zauner said. “I think they looked at his potential. What I heard was [Nick] Novak had better stats in practice over the course of training camp but Josh Lambo did better in the games. Sometimes coaches only worry about what happens in the games and then don’t worry about practice.
“But when you look at Nick, he is compared to John Carney – Carney kicked a long time. When guys kick an 86-87% in their career, that’s pretty good. The numbers don’t lie over a period of time. Only the test of time will tell you how good Josh Lambo really is.”
In his favor, observes Zauner, are his strength, his relative maturity in comparison to the younger rookies coming out of college, and his natural skill with his feet.
Drew Keeshan, Lambo’s goalkeeping coach at FC Dallas, describes a strong character, one who was forced to get used to adversity. He broke his jaw in his first reserve-team game for Dallas – at a time when it looked like he might jump up the pecking order. Also a particular strength: his kicking.
“His career here was a little bit up and down,” Keeshan told the Guardian. “He definitely had the talent. I think he was unfortunate that the keepers that we had were proven No1s. He was sitting No3, so he never really got his chance to shine. He played some reserve games and did fine. He was still very young when we got him at the start.
“But an unbelievably good kid. Anything you would ask him to do, he would do. Professional on the field, very professional off the field. He was a real pleasure to work with, and I’m not surprised he has success right now. His leg strength was unbelievable. The distance he could kick a ball, the accuracy of it. It was a different level.”
Keeshan ruminates on what might have been had the broken jaw not intervened. “By the time he came back, the order was established. It would be interesting to know if that hadn’t happened how things would have panned out. I know he had high expectations that he was going to play, and he was frustrated that he didn’t get his opportunities.”
Trials came and went. DC United was one, Sheffield United reportedly another. Offers from the NASL apparently emerged, but Lambo decided to move on. When asked whether he feels he pulled the trigger on his pro soccer career too soon, he stalls slightly, admitting he’d pondered the thought. But he quickly re-asserts himself, accentuating the opportunity before him to carve out a successful career as an NFL kicker.
“I’ve thought about that a few times. A lot went against me. I broke my jaw in my first reserve game and then the coach, Steve Morrow, who drafted me, got fired.” He adds: “If all this happened to bring me to football, then that’s a good thing, and I just really appreciate the opportunity I’ve been given.”
Goalkeepers, as the saying goes, are crazy. They can go from hero to zero in seconds. The last line of defense, their mistakes are as magnified as their game-defining saves. It’s a confidence position like no other. That sort of history might prove a key ingredient in any long-term success Lambo finds in his new profession. “Goalkeeper is a lonely position on the field,” he muses. “We are the outcasts. It’s the same with the kicker.”
