Texas A&M placekicker Josh Lambo, despite excelling in his role on the A&M football team, grew up with a love for the other kind of football. In fact, the senior from Middleton, Wis., developed a strong affinity for the game of soccer around the age of four.
Lambo then blossomed into an American soccer star with a unique ability at the goalkeeper position. He signed a Generation adidas contract, competed for the U-17 men’s national team, and was, at age 17, a top-10 draft pick for F.C. Dallas in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
However, he was waived by F.C. Dallas in 2011 and struggled to find a sufficient contract in the sport. At age 21, he decided to transition his skills to the football sphere.
Lambo, having never kicked in a football game before, first crafted videos highlighting his potential as a kicker that he would send to various programs across the country in hope of an opportunity to play for a college team. A&M, though, was the only school that responded to Lambo’s efforts.
Since joining the Aggies in the fall of 2012 as a sophomore, Lambo has hit 17-of-21 field goals, including a long of 50 yards against Southern Methodist University earlier this fall. In his junior season, he was awarded the game ball after nailing a 33-yard field goal as time expired to defeat Ole Miss. Lambo, looking back on his career, appreciates all football has provided him.
“It’s really been a validation for a life-changing decision for me because I could’ve continued to have been a professional soccer player,” Lambo said. “I chose not to. I chose against it. So just having this success with football is just really humbling and really validating knowing that I made a really good decision.”
This season, Lambo leads the Aggie football team in scoring with 78 total points, making 9-of-11 field goals and 51-of-51 extra points. Lambo’s field goal percentage this season is nearly 30 percent better than that of A&M opponents. He has been perfect on all of his extra point attempts, extending his overall streak to 101 consecutive PATs.
“When you think of a touchdown, you think of seven points, you don’t think of six. So I think for me personally, it’s not much of an accomplishment for me,” Lambo said. “For me it’s kind of equating the quarterback handing the ball off to the running back; it’s going to happen. Obviously every now and again there is a hiccup. My first one last year, the hold got dropped, and I think I kicked it and hit a lineman in the head, so things happen like that. But that’s, I mean, that’s my job, that’s what’s expected of me, and so I’m very happy that the snap and the hold have been great for a hundred and however many consecutive kicks.”
Lambo said he is intrigued by this possibility of playing for some professional team, but prefers to focus on the last few weeks of his career as a Texas A&M football player.
“If the opportunity presents itself, I’m definitely going to go after it, but I’m not thinking about that very much just yet,” he said. “I still have another solid month, month and a half, left with this team and this is my first priority and I’ll worry about what’s going to happen after this when the season is over.”
Lambo joins 16 other seniors who are expected to suit up on Thanksgiving night for their Kyle Field finale.
“It’s kind of definitely a bittersweet thing, just knowing that I can only run out of that tunnel one more time,” Lambo said. “Hopefully, we’ll be sawing ’em off at the end of the game one more time. I’ve had a lot of really, really good memories at Kyle Field. It’s provided me with just some incredible opportunities that I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else and I’m looking forward to going out and performing one last time.”