Man Laughed at Younghoe Koo’s Missed Kick So Hard He Had a Seizure – “Kicker Saved My Life”

Younghoe Koo's botched field goal attempt in the Giants loss against the Patriots caused Mark Toothaker to suffer a major seizure.

Man Laughed at Younghoe Koo’s Missed Kick So Hard He Had a Seizure – “Kicker Saved My Life”

Younghoe Koo (Image via IMAGO)

Younghoe Koo saved a man’s life. He didn’t know about it until now. A news report published by the Associated Press talks about a certain Mark Toothaker from Lexington, Kentucky, who laughed so hard at Koo botching a field goal that he suffered a major seizure last December.

Thankfully, Toothaker’s wife, Malory, is a trained nurse at a rehabilitation hospital working under a brain-injury doctor. At first, she suspected her husband was pretending, but she quickly understood the seriousness of the situation. She phoned the paramedics, and they took Mark to the nearby hospital.

Following a thorough examination, the doctors discovered a tennis-ball-sized tumor on the left side of his brain. Toothaker was quickly transferred to the University of Kentucky’s hospital so that he could receive better treatment.

They surgically removed the tumor that turned out to be benign, and he returned home by the end of the week. Speaking with the Associated Press, Toothaker thanked Younghoe Koo for saving his life.

Kicker [Younghoe Koo] saved my life because it could’ve happened any other time. I wholeheartedly believe I was in the right spot at the right time, and he was the trigger for that happening. It was a miracle.

Mark Toothaker said

How did Younghoe Koo miss a crucial field goal against the Patriots?

The New York Giants were on the hunt to end their six-game losing streak when they traveled to Gillette Stadium to face off against the New England Patriots. With a little over six minutes left until the halftime break, the Patriots led by ten points.

The New York Giants were on the hunt to end their six-game losing streak when they traveled to Gillette Stadium to face off against the New England Patriots. With a little over six minutes left until the halftime break, the Patriots led by ten points. The Giants were presented with a great opportunity to reduce the score by burying a field goal from 47 yards. Younghoe Koo botched the kick by hitting his foot into the turf. Punter Jamie Gillan, who was on holding duty, quickly took the ball and tried to throw a pass. However, the Patriots' defenders got to him, and the move was over.
Younghoe Koo played for the Atlanta Falcons (Image via IMAGO)

The Giants were presented with a great opportunity to reduce the score by burying a field goal from 47 yards. Younghoe Koo botched the kick by hitting his foot into the turf. Punter Jamie Gillan, who was on holding duty, quickly took the ball and tried to throw a pass. However, the Patriots’ defenders got to him, and the move was over. The Giants lost that game 33-15.

In the following week, Koo missed two field goals from 54+ yards against the Washington Commanders. Once when the score was 3-0, and again when the score was 22-14. Both misses tipped the game’s trajectory in the Commanders’ favor. The game ended in a 29-21 defeat for the men in blue.

Two days later, on December 16, the Giants waived Koo from the team. He’s currently a free agent.

Is Younghoe Koo the first Korean to play for an NFL team?

Koo was born in Seoul, South Korea, and played soccer. He moved to the United States at the age of 12. At college, he switched disciplines and pursued a career as a kicker at Georgia Southern. He went undrafted in 2017 and signed a contract with the Los Angeles Chargers.

In the next couple of years, he was part of the Atlanta Legends (Alliance Football League) and the Patriots until joining the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent the next six years of his life.

In Atlanta, Koo established himself as one of the best placekickers in the league. In 2020, he converted 37 of his 39 field goal attempts and led the league in most points scored with 144. However, his accuracy had started to dwindle by the 2024 season, as he made just 73.5% of his field goal attempts. The Falcons released him after just one game in 2025, and he ended up in New York with the Giants.

That said, Koo is not the first Korean-born player to start in the NFL. That honor is held by John Lee, who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1986. Lee also played for the Las Vegas Raiders.

The first Korean-American to play an NFL game was Virginia Tech offensive tackle Eugene Chung. The Patriots drafted Chung 13th overall in 1992. Three years later, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Chung in the expansion draft. He went into coaching after retirement and won a Super Bowl ring as the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line coach. Chung currently coaches the offensive line unit and manages the run game at the University of Delaware.

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