Since he was drafted to MLL in 2017, Matt Rambo has certainly made his impact on lacrosse. Throughout his high school, college, and professional careers, he has found a way to set himself apart from the rest. He is arguably the best player currently playing pro lacrosse, but the question has now become where his legacy will stand among the all-time greats.
This is Matt Rambo’s player profile.
Matt Rambo Player Profile
Matt Rambo was born in Glenside, Pennsylvania. He grew up in the Philadelphia area and attended La Salle College High School, where he had a prolific high school career. He was a three-time US Lacrosse High School All-American, named MVP of the 2012 Under Armour Underclassmen Tournament, and followed it up with an impressive eight-goal MVP performance in the 2013 All-American Game. His dominant high school career led him to be named the 2013 No. 1 incoming freshman Attackmen by Inside Lacrosse. He finished his high school career with 385 points and 276 career goals.
Rambo certainly lived up to the hype during his collegiate career at Maryland. He started every game as a freshman and finished second on the team in points with 36. Rambo established himself as one of most clutch players in the country, having three game-winning goals during his freshman campaign.
There was no “sophomore slump” for Matt Rambo as he followed up a tremendous freshman year by becoming the first Maryland player to score 40 goals since 2004 and leading the Terps to their first of three-straight appearances in the national championship game.
As a junior, Rambo was an All-American for the first time after being one of the best scorers in the country. He finished the season with 87 points (third nationally) and 45 assists (fourth nationally) and once again helped lead Maryland to another NCAA title appearance, losing a heartbreaker in overtime to unseeded UNC.
Matt Rambo capped off his senior year with a storybook ending. He was named the 2017 Tewaaraton winner, becoming University of Maryland’s first-ever male recipient. He became the school’s all-time leader in goals and points and also became the first Terp to have a 40 goal, 40 assist season. Not only did he set scoring records, but the third time was the charm as the Terps finally got the monkey off their back and won the 2017 national championship, ending a 42-year title drought.
After his outstanding collegiate career, Matt Rambo was drafted third overall by the Charlotte Hounds in the 2017 MLL Draft. He finished the year with nine goals and six assists in six games with the Hounds. The following season Rambo did much better, scoring 27 goals and 20 assists.
He was also drafted in the fifth round of the NLL Draft by New England. He never played a single game for New England, instead choosing to do lacrosse clinics and camps rather than play in the NLL. But that didn’t stop the hometown Philadelphia Wings from selecting Rambo in the 2018 expansion draft.
“I haven’t been that excited in a while…..Playing in your hometown is everything you dream for as a little kid.” Rambo said in a 2019 press release.
He had a very strong rookie season, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting.
In 2018, Rambo announced he would join the PLL. In his first season, Rambo led the league in points and assists and was named a team captain for the All-Star Game. Not only was he an All Star, but he was named the Jim Brown League MVP and led the Whipsnakes LC to the league’s first-ever championship. Clutch Rambo was on full display that game, scoring the game-tying goal with 21 seconds remaining and netting the game-winner 28 seconds into overtime.
During the 2020 bubble season, Matt Rambo once again helped Whipsnakes LC win the PLL title, this time over Chaos LC. The Whips finished the season a perfect 6-0 in the PLL bubble. Rambo was named to the All-Tournament Team and finished the year with 25 points in six games.
This season has been a tough one for Rambo. Injuries have limited his availability during the season, and it was one of the reasons the Whipsnakes struggled. During the semifinal matchup against the Waterdogs, the announcers mentioned that the Whipsnakes were 1-3 with Rambo out of the lineup, and their points per game were five points lower. Even while only playing in six games and battling injuries, Rambo still had 18 points.
Matt Rambo once again broke the hearts of Redwoods fans and scored with fewer than one minute remaining to advance to the second round of the PLL playoffs.
“I needed to get that one since I messed up on the play before, turned the ball over on a stupid mistake,” Rambo told Terry Foy of Inside Lacrosse on Aug. 21.
The Whipsnakes will now play the Chaos for the PLL championship in a rematch of last year’s title game.
Matt Rambo has been a dominant player at every level, but the “Thicc Boy” himself plays the game with an energy and passion like a child, always laughing and having fun, the way it’s meant to be.
At the rate he’s going, we might just need a second Matt Rambo player profile article by the time his playing career is over.
