In the midst of Urban Meyer’s absolutely horrendous stint as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, his former kicker Josh Lambo claimed to have been kicked by him, during a verbal altercation.
Now, Lambo is taking it to court, as he has filed a lawsuit for $3.5 million against the Jaguars after the incident, citing damages for emotional distress.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the lawsuit states that Lambo’s on the field performance suffered after being kicked and verbally abused by Meyer.
The lawsuit was filed in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court in Duval County on Tuesday, claiming that Meyer and the Jags created a hostile work environment.
Since Lambo reported the incident to the Jags’ legal counsel, his release from the team violated Florida’s Private Sector Whistle Blower’s Act.
The kicker is the fourth most accurate placekicker in NFL history, but struggled in the preseason last year, missing a field-goal attempt in each of the Jags’ first two preseason games.
At practice, before the final preseason game against the Cowboys, Lambo said that he was in a lunge position when Meyer approached him, kicked him in the leg, and said:
“Hey dipsh*t, make your f*cking kicks!”
Lambo said he told the coach to never do that again, but Meyer responded:
“I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f*ck I want.”
The lawsuit states that Lambo immediately reported the situation to his agent Richard Irvin, who contacted the Jags’ legal counsel the day after he was kicked.
Irvin and the Jaguars confirmed on December 15th that the incident was reported to the legal counsel, and was offered a chance to speak with them. However, Lambo said he had no recollection of being asked to speak with them.
The Jags said in a statement:
“Jaguars legal counsel indeed acknowledged and responded immediately to the query made by Josh Lambo’s agent Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.
Counsel offered to speak with Josh, or to assist Josh in speaking with coaching or any other football personnel, if he was comfortable with her sharing the information.
Any suggestion otherwise is blatantly false.”
Meyer denied that the incident happened the way Lambo described it:
“Josh’s characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account. (General manager) Trent (Baalke) and I met with him on multiple occasions to encourage his performance, and this was never brought up.
I was fully supportive of Josh during his time with the team and wish him nothing but the best.”
Lambo was released from the team on October 19th, and the lawsuit points to the kicking incident as a main reason for his release:
“Multiple skilled players missed assignments, dropped passes or otherwise failed to perform on-field directly resulting in the Jaguars’ game losses.
However, Mr. Lambo, the player who objected to the unlawful activity of Mr. Meyer, was the only player Mr. Meyer and the Defendant (the Jaguars) cut from the roster.”
He also mentioned that Meyer threatened to cut him after the incident:
“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.”
Lambo is seeking a jury trial and hopes to be awarded a judgement for back pay owed from his 2021 salary with interest, along with:
“Compensation for any special damages sustained as emotional stress and reputational harm and litigation fees.”
Urban Meyer… the gift that keeps on giving…
