Former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo has filed a lawsuit against the Jacksonville Jaguars over being kicked and verbally abused by then-head coach Urban Meyer.
As some may recall, Lamb told the Tampa Bay Times last year that Meyer, then coach of the Jaguars, had not only physically harmed him, but he was emotionally abusive too. That, coupled with many other reports and rumors, led to Meyer being fired from the team.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Lambo is suing the team for $3.5 million, his base salary last year, for emotional distress and the way Meyer’s treatment affected his play before the team cut him in the middle of the season. Lambo also believes the team cut him for reporting the incident. Meyer has denied the charges.
Lambo, who is the fourth-most accurate placekicker in NFL history, missed field goals in each of the Jaguars’ first two preseason games. In a practice session before the team’s final preseason game in August, Lambo says that Meyer approached him while he was in a lunge position, kicked him in the leg, and said “hey dips–t, make your f–king kicks!” When Lambo told Meyer not to touch him again, Meyer reportedly said “I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f–k I want.”
Lambo claims that, one day later, Meyer threatened to release him, saying, “You’re the first player I’ve ever let speak to me that way in my career, and if you do it again, you’re gone.”
Meyer was fired not long after the incident was reported.
In the lawsuit, Lambo says the incident affected his ability to sleep, practice, and perform his job.
“Mr. Meyer’s hostility had the intended effect on Mr. Lambo, resulting in Mr. Lambo uncharacteristically missing difficult and long kicks from the ranges of fifty-five yards, fifty-two yards, and fifty-eight yards,” per the lawsuit.
“For me, I would say completely unfit and that is my observation from what I saw day in and day out for a lot of months this year,” Lambo would say of Meyer after he was fired. “The way that he treats the guys in the locker room, there’s this pompous nature that he has that he can get away with anything.”
Lambo is seeking a jury trial and is hoping to receive back pay owed from his 2021 salary with interest as well as “compensation for any special damages sustained as emotional stress and reputational harm and litigation fees.”