Younghoe Koo, Atlanta Falcons, Agree to Contract

Younghoe Koo joined the Atlanta Falcons in October of 2019 following the cutting of their long-time placekicker Matt Bryant. He would play eight times for the Falcons in the 2019 season, making 23 of 26 field-goal attempts with a long of 50 yards and making 15 of his 16 extra-point attempts.

He would improve on these efforts in 2020 when he finished tied for the league leader in scoring with 144 points with Daniel Carlson and Jason Sanders despite playing one fewer game than both of them missing their Week 4 game against the Green Bay Packers with a groin injury. He led the league in field goals made with 37 successful field goals off of just 39 attempts making all eight attempts from 50+ yards bringing his career total to Nine out of Nine from that distance. His performance during 2020 would earn him the first pro bowl selection of his career.

Prior to joining the Falcons, Koo spent a short period of time on the practice squad of the New England Patriots but would never suit up for them and was released just 11 days after joining.

That short spell with the Patriots came off the back of an incredibly successful spell with the Atlanta Legends of the now-defunct AAF. During his time in the AAF, he would make all 14 of his field-goal attempts and score the first points in the history of the league with a 38-yard field goal against the Orlando Apollos.

That spell with the Legends came after Koo took a one-year break from football following a very unsuccessful spell with the Los Angles Chargers. He joined the Chargers as an undrafted free agent from Georgia Southern, becoming the fourth Korean to play in the NFL but was waived after week four after making only three of his six field-goal attempts, including missing two key efforts as time expired in the first two weeks of the season.