Updated on: May 2, 2026 / 11:52 PM EDT / CBS News
A completely missed field-goal attempt by former New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo last December — a moment that had broadcasters and many viewers laughing — led to an unexpected, life-saving diagnosis. Mark Toothaker, a stallion sales manager at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, was on the couch with his wife, Malory, when he suddenly felt “a shock in my left arm, and then I never felt anything else. Had no pain, anything after that,” he said. He lost consciousness and remained out for about 25 minutes.
At the hospital doctors told Toothaker he had suffered a seizure and then delivered heavier news: they had found a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball. Fortunately, the tumor was benign. Toothaker said he was lucky his wife is a nurse and that the episode happened at home rather than while he was traveling; he was discharged after about 24 hours.
Afterward, Toothaker reached out to Koo to explain that the missed kick indirectly led to the diagnosis. Koo — who has made the Pro Bowl and led the NFL in scoring for Atlanta in 2020 — received an invitation. “I’d love to have him come to the races, or come visit Spendthrift,” Toothaker said before the Kentucky Derby. “If he wants to go racing, we’ll go racing. If he wants to come out and see the mares and foals, it’d be my honor to come out and show him around this beautiful farm that we have here in Lexington, Kentucky.”
Toothaker had been preparing for this year’s Kentucky Derby and hoped Spendthrift’s runner Further Ado would reach the winner’s circle. Further Ado finished 11th.