Updated on: May 2, 2026 / 11:52 PM EDT / CBS News
When former New York Giants placekicker Younghoe Koo completely missed the ball on a field goal attempt against the New England Patriots last December, broadcasters — and many viewers — cracked up. Mark Toothaker, a stallion sales manager for Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, was laughing on the couch with his wife, Malory, when he suddenly felt something odd.
“I felt a shock in my left arm, and then I never felt anything else. Had no pain, anything after that,” Toothaker said. He lost consciousness and didn’t wake for about 25 minutes. At the hospital he was told he had suffered a seizure — and doctors delivered a much bigger shock: a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball.
Luckily, the tumor was benign and Toothaker’s wife is a nurse. “Just happened at absolutely the right place if it had to happen,” he said, noting he travels frequently and could have been far from help. He was discharged after a whirlwind 24 hours.
Toothaker, who was preparing for this year’s Kentucky Derby and had hoped to be in the winner’s circle with Spendthrift’s runner Further Ado, later reached out to Koo to share how the missed kick indirectly led to the diagnosis. Koo, who made the Pro Bowl and led the NFL in points for Atlanta in 2020, got an invitation.
“I’d love to have him come to the races, or come visit Spendthrift,” Toothaker said before the 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.”
Further Ado finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby.