A Kentucky man credits Younghoe Koo’s disappointing field goal attempt with saving his life
One of the worst moments of Younghoe Koo’s NFL career last season may have saved someone’s life.
At least that’s what it seems like when you hear Mark Toothaker describe what happened to him when he and his wife were at home last December watching Monday Night Football as the New York Giants played the New England Patriots.
In the second half of the game, Koo, kicking the Giants, had a bad, funny, scary, embarrassing moment when he suddenly decided not to go for a field goal and the game turned into a Keystone Cops moment on national television.
Perhaps like many fans who saw the game, Toothaker began to laugh at Koo’s expense. But suddenly, unexpectedly, the laughter turned to tragedy when it brought on a violent seizure.
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And that led to things, which led to things, which Toothaker believes saved his life.
(The kicker) saved my life because it could have happened at any time,” Toothaker told the Associated Press. “I believe with all my heart that I was in the right place at the right time, and he caused it. It was a miracle.”
Toothaker sees a miracle in Koo’s aborted kick and his medical emergency, which he likens to an “electrocution” because his wife called 911 immediately. When the paramedics arrived, they rushed him to the hospital.
New York Giants quarterback Younghoe Koo takes the field before the game against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, Nov. 16, 2025. (Photos by Vincent Carchietta/Imagn)
A CT scan revealed a tumor the size of a tennis ball on the left side of Toothaker’s brain. So, yes, serious things are seen after laughter
“When you hear the news, ‘You have a brain tumor,’ that’s what nobody wants to hear,” said Malory Toothaker, who happens to be a nurse who works with brain-injured patients.
Toothaker was transferred to the University of Kentucky Hospital, where the tumor was surgically removed. Turns out it’s nonsense, according to the Associated Press.
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Toothaker was home by the end of the week with no permanent damage and continues to work on the Spendthrift Farm thoroughbred Further Ado will run in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo makes an extra point in the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 1, 2025. (Photos by Eric Canha/Imagn)
Toothaker, 59, said he had no symptoms and was unaware that the tumor had pushed his brain six millimeters to the right as it grew. Toothaker knows for sure that his job as a horse season manager requires him to drive and fly across the country.
And if that seizure had happened while he was in the air or behind the wheel, the cool story might have had a different ending.
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“I could have it on the plane, anywhere,” Toothaker said. “I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t run a family in my Expedition up and down the road. I think it would have been a very difficult thing for me to live with if someone got hurt in this.
“Believe me, even though that thing was tough, as violent as this kidnapping, I don’t remember it and I find it hard to believe that I wouldn’t have hurt anyone or hurt myself if I had been behind the wheel.”
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Younghoe Koo of the New York Giants fields the ball in the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Dec. 1, 2025. (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Toothaker’s luck was part of Koo’s undoing.
He was released by the Giants after the Week 15 loss to the Washington Commanders when he missed two field goals. The memory of the botched effort against the Patriots definitely didn’t help his cause, as the team decided his fate.
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Fox News tried to contact Koo about the matter, but he did not return a message.
“I know it wasn’t his best time, but it was beyond crazy,” Toothaker said. “Because [Malory] and I had a belly laugh at his expense, which I feel bad about now, but it all worked out in the end, that for me it couldn’t have been a better time. “
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