Urban Meyer’s reputation has been taking massive hits all NFL season and it seems like there’s a new damaging story every day.
Today’s update is that Josh Lambo, the former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker who was cut by the team during the season, says that Meyer kicked him while he was stretching during warmups. The Tampa Bay Times spoke with Lambo about the incident.
Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo tells @NFLSTROUD that Urban Meyer kicked him during an August warmup this preseason https://t.co/JoN0UDdVz1 pic.twitter.com/aqFS4HScCL
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) December 15, 2021
“I’m in a lunge position,” says Lambo. “Left leg forward, right leg back. Urban Meyer, while I’m in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, Dips***, make your f***ing kicks!’ And kicks me in the leg.”
While it might be initial instinct to wonder if Meyer was simply making a joke, Lambo says that it did not feel like Meyer was being jokey with his player.
“It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could’ve done it, but it certainly wasn’t a love tap. Truthfully, I’d register it as a five (out of 10). Which in the workplace, I don’t care if it’s football or not, the boss can’t strike an employee. And for a second, I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t you ever f***ing kick me again!’ And his response was, “I’m the ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f*** I want.”
That damning account is in-line with a lot of the things we’ve heard about Meyer in recent weeks. Reports of disagreements and lack of respect between him and the players have been going on all season long.
The allegation certainly got a fresh round of comments about Meyer going on social media.
This is what happens when an unsuccessful franchise sells their soul for a successful coach. https://t.co/JCZWRaOF5u
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 15, 2021
You shouldn't kick any player, but kicking your kicker's leg is on its own planet of dumb https://t.co/vqlrSXF1ux
— John Breech (@johnbreech) December 15, 2021
I suspect kicking wasn't part of the curriculum for that leadership class Urban was supposed to teach at Ohio State?
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) December 15, 2021
The kickings will continue until morale improves.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) December 15, 2021
Hearing troubling reports that Urban Meyer hiked the Jacksonville Jaguars long-snapper a distance of nearly ten yards in a fit of pique. "If you didn't like getting hucked like that," Meyer told him after practice, "you should have approached me privately like a man."
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) December 15, 2021
Given how miserable Meyer has often looked this season and everything else that’s happened, it just feels like it’s a matter of time before he and the Jaguars part ways.
