R.I.P.: David Lamm, Pioneering Jacksonville Sports Talker

David Lamm ('46-'24)

David Lamm, a former sports editor at the Florida-Times Union who went on to help launch sports radio in Jacksonville and become one of the most prominent broadcasting voices in the area for decades, died on Friday. According to News4JAX, his son, Alex, confirmed his father’s passing in a post on Facebook

Lamm, 78, was an unmistakable figure in the Jacksonville media market since arriving here from North Carolina in the late 1970s. His well-known “Lamm at Large” segment matched his persona perfectly. He was hard to miss, be it his larger frame, (although he’d slimmed down considerably in recent years), deep sports knowledge and sometimes bombastic takes. He was seldom seen without his unlit cigar in hand and would always engage with people in the community. As much as Lamm could rile up listeners with takes, he had a soft and giving spot, too.

Nicknamed “Lamm Chop”, he started the David Lamm Foundation in 2002. It went on to roll out Santa Lamm, an initiative that was a Christmas drive to provide children from 3 to 13 years old a $100 gift card to go shopping during the holidays. According to the foundation, more than 4,200 children have been helped through Santa Lamm, which is now handled by Lamm’s sons, Alex and Tom, and their families. The Times-Union’s Mark Woods detailed in a 2023 column about Lamm’s inspiration for that and why it meant so much to him.

News4JAX sports analyst and 1010XL’s Frank Frangie worked with Lamm at the Times-Union and later in radio. “David Lamm was an icon. David Lamm was a pioneer. There is no sports radio in Jacksonville without David Lamm and I mean that very sincerely,” Frangie said. “Jay Solomon and David Lamm were the pioneers and I got to be the tag along back in the day. And it was of the great honors of my career. We will miss David Lamm. How authentic. How real. How he said what he believed. How he entertained. It’s a sad day in Jacksonville, the great David Lamm gone today.”