The untold story of Anthony Lambo: football phenom

Mr. Lambo has been widely known through West Essex for his playing career, kindness and especially size. Lambo dedicated the earlier part of his life to playing football playing at Bloomfield High School and then moving on to play at Virginia Tech.

Lambo has loved football for his entire life and spent the first two decades of it dedicated to football, all day, all the time. He went from the classroom, to practice, to workouts, to taking calls from coaches.

“During my junior and senior year of high school, I was being recruited by over 30 Division I schools,” Lambo said. Many of the offers were from highly competitive schools: like Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Kansas, Clemson, Rutgers, Northwestern, Syracuse, Penn State. Lambo eventually ended up deciding on Virginia Tech.

He started his career at VT, redshirting his first year and playing D-Tackle his first year on the field, before moving to the O-line. Lambo played college ball with Michael Vick, one of the widely known stars of college football. Vick relied on Lambo to keep him protected behing the O-line.

“Mike was quiet, but a fierce competitor his first year as a starter and lead by example,” Lambo said.

Lambo had a very successful career in his college days and even tried to move on and play after college.

All of the odds were against him; a low ranked guard coming into the NFL with what teams perceived as little potential, but Lambo had yet to show them what he was capable of and became a priority free agent. He received calls from three teams: the Ravens, Bears and Browns.

“The Ravens were coming off a Super Bowl victory the year before; most NFL teams are looking to let go of some veteran player.It was a no brainer,” Lambo said.

Lambo eventually got cut from the Ravens after suffering many injuries to his hip and his shoulder. He then decided he didn’t want to risk any more injuries and decided to stop playing.

“My shoulder was slipping out of place on a daily basis during college, at least five concussions, and needing bone chips removed from my ankle, I made the decision to choose my health and lifestyle over money and continued fame,” Lambo said.

Lambo had many memories from his time playing football and met some amazing people and players, like Ray Lewis, Shannon Sharpe and Ed Reed. The memories and stories he tells from his time are endless, but he did have a few favorites.

“Playing Division I football for five years allowed me to have many experiences that only a small percentage of the world can claim,” Lambo said. “It would be hard to choose one memory that was my best or favorite; from playing on ESPN on Thursday Nights to participating in five straight Bowl games.”

Lambo was a part of a very competitive team nationally and eventually ended up in the national championship with VT. This was perhaps one of the most exciting things to ever happen to Lambo and what many kids dream about growing up to do.

“I had the opportunity to play in 2000 Nokia Sugar Bowl, College Football’s National Championship on my 22nd birthday, in New Orleans in front of 88,000 fans and millions of viewers on television,” he said.

Lambo has been dedicated to everything he has done in his life. From his job as a gym teacher, to coaching our sports teams, as well as his playing career.
“Professional sports are not what the average person believes them to be, they are more cut throat than any other field in the world,” Lambo said.

After a successful career in football, he has now moved on to a life with his family and teaching. Lambo certainly has a lot of very interesting stories to tell and has lived a very memorable life.