One of the funniest moments from the 2025 New York Giants season came in Week 13. The Giants had been dealing with kicker woes all season long at that point. After yet another failed experiment with kicker, New York brought in Younghoe Koo in hopes of being the solution to their problems. However, in that game against the New England Patriots, Koo badly whiffed on a field goal attempt, slipping and falling while attempting a routine kick.
Younghoe Koo with the faulty kick attempt
(via @nfl) pic.twitter.com/YTOy6yeFxj
— ESPN (@espn) December 2, 2025
While it was certainly frustrating for Giants fans at the time, the kick went viral for the cartoon-like way Koo fell over. As it turns out, the hilarity of Koo’s kick had an unintended effect: it saved a man’s life.
Mark Toothaker was watching the Giants-Patriots Week 13 game when he saw Koo miss his kick horrendously. Like almost everyone watching, Toothaker laughed at the kicker’s misfortune. However, he suffered a seizure after the laughing fit, causing his wife to call 911 to bring him to the hospital.
At the hospital, the scans revealed that Toothaker had a tennis-sized tumor in his brain. If not for the comedy show that the Giants provided that day, that tumor may have been detected much, much later. Toothaker had his tumor removed without any complications; the lump ended up being benign. He went home a week later without any issues.
The Giants have three people competing for the kicker spot in 2026. First is veteran kicker Jason Sanders, who last played for the Dolphins in 2024. He sat out the 2025 season with a hip injury. Next is sophomore Ben Sauls, who was on the 2025 Giants roster and made eight field goals as a rookie. Their most recent signing is UDFA Dominic Zvada from Michigan.
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