Second Thoughts

Chargers' K had unlikely path to NFL

Los Angeles Chargers rookie Younghoe Koo beat out Josh Lambo to become the team’s kicker. Koo, out of Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt Conference, is the fourth South Korea-born player in NFL history.
Los Angeles Chargers rookie Younghoe Koo beat out Josh Lambo to become the team’s kicker. Koo, out of Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt Conference, is the fourth South Korea-born player in NFL history.

It's amazing how sports can break down barriers. Consider the tale of the Los Angeles Chargers' new kicker.

NFL teams had to reduce their rosters from the training camp limit of 90 players to 53 on Saturday, meaning a lot of players saw their dreams dashed.

But a lot of players see their dreams come true, and one of them is a most unlikely NFL player, a 5-9, South Korean-born former soccer standout who didn't really learn how to speak English until he was 12 years old.

Meet Younghoe Koo.

Koo, an All-Sun Belt Conference kicker at Georgia Southern, moved to New Jersey with his family in sixth grade. In a profile by the Bergen Record's Tara Sullivan just after signing with the Chargers as an undrafted rookie this year, Koo said his first weeks at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J., were lonely. He didn't understand the customs or the language, and he didn't have any friends.

Sports became his path to solving all of those problems.

He'd played soccer in South Korea, but he tried American football, where he could put those skills to work as a kicker. He also was an all-county defensive back at Ridgewood High, grabbing six interceptions as a senior.

Koo made 6 of 8 field goals as a senior, and also converted all 32 extra-point tries. He was offered a scholarship to play at Georgia Southern.

And during his time playing football, he learned the English language and assimilated into American culture.

As a senior at Georgia Southern, Koo lined up for 20 field goals and made all but one (his miss was from 54 yards), and he also made 28 of 29 extra points. He was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's best kicker, and a third-team All-American.

When the Chargers signed Koo, they already had Josh Lambo on the roster. Lambo was the Chargers' kicker in 2015 and 2016, but both seasons he was 26 of 32 on field goals (81.3 percent), and missed eight total extra points.

Koo beat out Lambo, who was released Saturday. He is the fourth South Korean-born player in NFL history, following kicker John Lee, who was with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1986; former Steelers star Hines Ward (his mother is Korean); and current Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Kyle Love, whose father was stationed in the country with the Army when he was born.

Quite a difference

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) ended a three-year winning drought Sunday at the Portland Classic in a manner that will be talked about for a long time.

She declared before the LPGA event started that she would donate all of her winnings from the tournament to the relief effort in her home area of Houston, which was devastated by Hurricane Harvey. She probably wasn't expecting to win the tournament, considering she hadn't earned a title since the 2014 Northwest Arkansas Championship in Rogers.

She stuck to her word despite clearing a check for $195,000.

What probably isn't talked about enough is the discrepancy in pay between the women's tour and the men's.

The sad fact of life on the LPGA Tour is that their purses are paltry compared to what the guys earn. The total purse in Portland was $1.3 million. Justin Thomas ($1.53 million) on Monday earned more than all of the LPGA golfers combined this week by taking the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston.

No word on whether he is sending any of his winnings to Houston.

SPORTS TRIVIA

How many LPGA Tour events has Stacy Lewis won?

ANSWER

Twelve.

Sports on 09/05/2017

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