Kicker Yangho Koo became a signature moment for the 2025 New York Giants.
Oddly enough, it wasn't very good.
Koo had a chance to bring the Giants within one point of the New England Patriots with a 47-yard field goal in the second quarter Monday night in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
The ball was hit.
Ku ran forward.
He moved his kicking leg back, then forward.
But Koo's foot never reached the ball.
Instead, his toe smashed hard into the ground just beyond the pigskin, leaving holder Jamie Gillan to struggle with the ball. Gillan took a 13-yard loss and the Giants remained in a 10-point hole en route to a 33-15 loss.
After the episode played out, the Giants' quarterback was featured on “Monday Night Football.” Jackson Dart on the sideline, rolling his eyes and saying, “Oh my God.” It was just such a season for the Giants, who lost their seventh straight game and dropped to 2-11 on the season.
Koo said after the game that despite what the scene may have looked like, his foot was not actually stuck in the turf. Instead, the veteran kicker said, he noticed a problem with the hold and made a split-second decision to abort the play.
“As I was driving towards the ball, the bottom of the ball slipped out,” Koo said. “So I just left it at that.”
Ku thanked Gillan for his attempt to save the hold.
“Jamie did a good job of catching him and bringing him back,” Koo said, “but at that point it was too late.”
However, this unsuccessful play was mercilessly ridiculed. Some on social networks compare Ku fictional character Charlie Brownwhose repeated failure to even make contact when attempting to kick a football was a popular joke in Peanuts comic.
Some joked that Koo intentionally missed to help the Patriots cover the point spread. Other compared it to how the ground sometimes seems to interfere with a golfer's swing.
“Eli, that's like one of those fat nine-irons you hit.” Peyton Manning told his brother during their “ManningCastThe game will be broadcast on ESPN2. “It's all grass.”
Giants interim coach Mike Kafka agreed with Koo.
“I saw it live,” Kafka told reporters after the game. “The ball slipped a little bit. He wasn't sure it was going to be set. Jamie tried to get it back into position, but by then it was a little out of alignment. So it was just tough there.”
Koo played four games as an undrafted rookie. with chargers in 2017 and eventually caught on with the Atlanta Falcons, reaching the Pro Bowl in 2020. Atlanta cut him for two games this season and days later he signed with the Giants.
