JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars have nominated kicker Josh Lambo for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, the team announced on Thursday.
The award recognizes the NFL player that best demonstrates outstanding community service and excellence on the field. Representing the best of the NFL’s commitment to philanthropy and community impact, 32 players are selected as their team’s Man of the Year and become eligible to win the national award.
Last season, former Jaguar Calais Campbell won the award.
The Jaguars said in a release that Lambo has dedicated his time, talents and resources to a variety of causes during his time in Jacksonville, but he’s engaged most frequently with two causes close to his heart: special education and pet adoption.
Since 2017, Lambo has been a frequent visitor to the North Florida School of Special Education and their 185 students. Earlier this year, he led the Lambo Literacy Challenge to help raise $30,000 for the school through daily reading challenges. Though the pandemic has limited his ability to interact in person with students, Lambo has taken time this year to read to classrooms virtually.
He’s also an animal lover with his own rescue dog named Indie and is a passionate advocate for pet adoption and has represented the cause on his cleats annually during the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign. At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, he joined with local shelter Fur Sisters - Furever Urs Rescue Inc. to cover the cost of pet adoptions for one week. In that short time, 16 dogs were adopted. He extended his offer for another 20 dogs and worked with local companies Pet Paradise and Pet Wants to also supply six months of pet food to new dog owners.
Beyond these two projects, Lambo is a ready participant in Jaguars Foundation initiatives throughout the season including patient visits at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and packing care packages for U.S. service members overseas.
The sixth-year kicker joined the Jaguars during the 2017 season and has already made his mark in the franchise record book. Lambo set and then tied a team record when he made 24 consecutive field goals from Nov. 19, 2017 – Nov. 11, 2018 and again from Dec. 2, 2018 – Nov. 3, 2019. He owns a franchise-best 95.0 field goal percentage connecting on 76 of 80 attempts since joining the team, the highest mark by a player in the NFL since 2017.
The Jacksonville philanthropic community offered words of support for Lambo’s nomination:
Kelly Krehbiel, Founder & President, Fur Sisters - Furever Urs Rescue Inc
“Josh has been a huge supporter of Fur Sisters - Furever Urs Rescue for several years and adopted his dog through us. He has helped bring awareness to our cause with his outreach to the community. Josh genuinely cares about our mission to save more dogs in need and has become an ambassador for choosing to adopt a rescue dog. We are so thankful for his ongoing support of our rescue and everything he does to help us get dogs in their forever homes!”
Sally Hazelip, Head of School, North Florida School of Special Education
“To me, what truly sets Josh apart is not his financial commitment to the school, but the way he truly cares for the students and wants to connect with them. From spending his birthday at our school, celebrating with each of our 185 students, to supporting them during the pandemic lockdown by reading books virtually and joining online classes, Josh is an MVP at North Florida School of Special Education.”
John Swanda, 12th grade student, North Florida School of Special Education
“Mr. Lambo is fun to spend time with when he comes out to the school. He has played sports with us and he is also great at running the library. My friends and I look up to him and not just because he plays football.”
For the third year in a row, all 32 team winners will be highlighted as nominees and recognized for their important work during the weekend leading up to Super Bowl LV. The 2020 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a prime-time awards special to air the week of Super Bowl LV on CBS.
All 32 nominees will receive a $40,000 donation in their name to their charity of choice. The winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of their choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s 6th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote on Twitter by using #WPMOYChallenge followed by their favorite nominee’s last name. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 10 and Jan 17 will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice, while the second and third place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, all courtesy of Nationwide. Hashtag information and official rules can be found at nfl.com/manoftheyear.
Cox Media Group
