Justin Yoon kicks his way to the most prestigious college football program in the US

Highly recruited Korean American kicker is expected to start right away at Notre Dame

By Brian Han

It’s safe to say that of all major sports, American football may be the least fitting for the majority of Korean athletes.

Justin Yoon is clearly an exception.

The 19-year-old from Milton Academy in Milton, Mass., will most likely be the starting kicker as a freshman for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish – a historically rich and prestigious Division I collegiate football organization.

Throughout his high school career, Yoon was being scouted extensively by schools around the nation.

“The expression I heard from college recruiters about Justin including those from Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M… they would all say the same thing that the ball just explodes off his foot,” says Milton Academy football coach Kevin MacDonald. “He’s rare. I’ve been coaching since the 70s and he’s by far the best kicker I’ve ever seen at the high school level in my career.”

The statement seems to reflect a general consensus as Yoon is ranked as either the top- or second-best high school kicker in the country according to ESPN, CBS Sports and Kohl’s among many others.

He officially committed to Notre Dame in June of 2014.

But just a few months later during the first game of his final high school season, a faulty snap led to an unfortunate series of events.

After attempting to recover the ball, an opposing player had struck Yoon’s lower back with his helmet.

What resulted were three fractured vertebrae, which in some cases is considered a career-ending injury.

He went on to miss over half of the season.

Even though others may have worried about his performance upon his return, Yoon was confident that he could play at an elite level without a hitch.

Yoon would subsequently prove himself on two separate occasions.

He capped off the Milton Academy Mustangs’ winning season with a 49-yard field goal in the final game of the year.

Then, on Jan. 2 at the 2015 Under Armour American Football Game featuring the top high school recruits, Yoon set two records in front of a crowd of 25,000 people — one for field goals made with three and another for longest field goal made at 47 yards.

“I just wanted to get back on the field and prove to the coaches that I was healthy and that I could kick again,” he said.

If Notre Dame needed an assurance, that was it.

Although football plays a big role in Yoon’s life now, the sport hadn’t always been at the forefront of Yoon’s mind.

He spent most of his childhood in South Korea so naturally American football wasn’t a big part of his life growing up.

Instead, Yoon’s first love was hockey and interestingly enough, he was recruited to play at Milton for how well he could handle a stick and a puck.

“I didn’t really have an interest in football at the time, but I thought of it as another sport that I could play just like hockey,” Yoon said while recalling his middle school years. “My father and a lot of my friends supported me when I first started out. They kept telling me that I could do something big with this, but it was hard for me to believe those things at the time. I’m grateful that it became an opportunity that has helped me out a lot in my life.”

There’s a lot more to the star kicker than his athleticism or an ability to play his best under pressure.

“He’s very mature and it’s almost like having another coach or another adult out there on the field,” says coach MacDonald. “Even though he’s leaving, he took the time to train a protege, another Korean kid named Min Park. Justin got him to go to kicking camps last summer and also personally trained him this last spring.”

Park was originally a soccer player, but Yoon had steered him in another direction.

“I sort of convinced him to play football as a kicker and told him that he had the potential to be recruited if he worked hard on it,” he said.

So far it’s paid off.

“Min came in after Justin broke his back and went 36-for-36 on PATs (Points After Touchdown),” said MacDonald.

It almost seems as if there’s a niche that’s beginning to bud for talented Korean kickers.

“It’s really rare for most positions considering how big you need to be,” says Yoon. “It’s hard to find that in Koreans, but I think the position of kickers is definitely a way in for us.”

As for professional aspirations, Yoon is very grounded and likes to keep his expectations realistic.

“It’s a tough topic because nothing’s guaranteed and if the opportunity is there to play in the NFL, I’ll gladly take that chance,” he said. “I’m going to college for a quality education and that’s very important to me.”