Josh Lambo is the first MLS player to become an NFL player, and while he's put together a good career in his second sport, he took a look back at his days with FC Dallas from 2008-11 and just how one goes from being an MLS goalkeeper to an NFL kicker in a few short years, on the latest episode of "BS The Podcast," hosted by Benny Feilhaber, Sal Zizzo and featuring Ike Opara.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Lambo explained his frustration with not getting a shot in MLS, saying "no one wanted to take a chance on me" after FC Dallas didn't play him and he sought trials in MLS and abroad. After deciding to go to college to prepare for his post-professional athlete career, he ended up learning how to be a football placekicker and attended Texas A&M, kicking there before finding his way to be an undrafted NFL player, playing for the San Diego Chargers in 2015-16 and currently, at the Jacksonville Jaguars since 2017.
He said that being in MLS at 17 years old and having to contend with teammates needing to play well to keep their jobs and feed their families made him a good professional, learning firsthand in the FC Dallas locker room despite not playing in the league.
But perhaps most illuminating, Lambo explained the machinations behind why he was cut by FC Dallas, and the whims that can change players' careers.
"It was Kevin Hartman, Chris Seitz and me. It was before the rosters got bumped up to 28 or whatever it was, I think it was still at 21 or 22 [players], so they only wanted two goalkeepers. They weren't going to pick up my fifth-year contract on my [Generation adidas] deal, but they did want to keep me as the backup and restructure things. So they wanted to keep me and Hartman, but Seitzy was about to be a free agent as well, so they wanted to sign Seitz because they had a 'for sure' trade lined up for him, so they could actually get something out of him instead of just let him go.
"So they re-signed him, that 'for sure' trade fell through, and they were stuck with him on the roster. And I was off the roster and they were like, 'Sorry.' And so that's really how I got released."
You can listen to the whole show over at the "BS The Podcast" website.
