Younghoe Koo had never heard of the NFL when he arrived in the United States from South Korea in 2006.

In fact, he never knew the sport even existed.

Koo remembers seeing the weird shaped ball during recess one day shortly after his family moved to New Jersey. Some new friends urged him to join in that fateful day in sixth grade, punting and kicking off in a friendly game of two-hand touch. Little did he know that set in motion a series of events that one day led him to the Los Angeles Chargers.

"I didn't even know what a football looked like when I moved here," Koo laughed following his first practice of rookie mini camp. "I grew up playing soccer, basketball and baseball. Football I thought was the same kicking motion as soccer or kickball. It's a little different, but it was still kicking."

Now, 11 years after seeing a football for the first time, Koo aims to follow in the footsteps of John Lee, Kyle Love and Hines Ward as the latest player born in South Korea to suit up in the NFL.

"Growing up I didn't know there were Korean football players. I actually had a Korean teammate in college, which is pretty rare. He got picked up by the Cardinals. So yeah, there is pride. I love representing Korea. It's an honor."

Opportunity led Koo's family to the United States to pursue his mother's career as a nurse. While he didn't know the sport existed until that school-yard game of two-hand touch, it eventually led to opportunities he never could have imaged. Koo's prowess on the field led to numerous scholarship offers, eventually ending with him attending Georgia Southern.

"Kicking was something I was just good at," he explained. "Football is something I fell in love with. I was choosing between James Madison and Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern actually came into the picture late. I thought Virginia was going to be the furthest south I'd go, but then Georgia Southern called. My parents and I took a visit. It felt like home, and they welcomed me."

It was a wise choice as he eventually became school's first FBS All-American, earning third-team honors in 2016. Koo was a first-team All-Sun Belt pick a year ago, ranking second in the country in field goal percentage as he made on 19 of 20 attempts. Koo set Georgia Southern's all-time record for career field goal percentage (88.6%), connecting on 31 of 35 attempts.

Despite his success in college, Koo is probably more well known as an internet sensation after a trick-shot video of him kicking a field goal while doing backflip went viral.