On April 1, 2026, former Division I college football player Victor Glover made one giant leap for both the world of football and the history of space exploration, the first time humans have headed toward the Moon in over 50 years. According to NASA, he’s one of the four astronauts on their Artemis II mission and the first Black person to ever head into deep space. Before his rocket science days, Glover was a baller for the Cal Poly football.

Back in the late ’90s at Cal Poly, he was a rare two-sport athlete for the Mustangs. He played both football (as a defensive back) and wrestling at the Division I level. Mind you, Victor was named the 1994 Athlete of the Year during his high school time at Ontario High.

Even though his individual college stats aren’t as widely astonishing as his high school ones, his then HC Andre Patterson (the guy with 20 years of coaching experience in the NFL) always knew he was more of a technical guy on the field.

“He may not have been the fastest guy out there or the most athletic guy out there, but he was going to succeed since he was the best technician out there. That’s who he is at his core.” The former Cal Polytech HC told the New York Times.

Glover’s football days built the exact mindset that’s required for spaceflight. Patterson, noting his focus as a ‘technician,’ perfectly explains his path to NASA. In a spacecraft, relying on precise execution and staying calm under pressure matters far more than pure athletic speed. That gridiron discipline directly fueled his journey.

That season (1996), his team, the Mustangs, had a 5–6 record. However, they pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year with their 17–13 win over No. 12-ranked UC Davis; it’s also a game where the defense held its rivals to their lowest score in years.

Victor graduated with a degree in general engineering in 1999. Even though football and wrestling weren’t his top priorities, he looks back at Cal Poly as his “original launch pad” for his illustrious career. Fun fact: the man has 3 master’s degrees in engineering and military science. It turns out that learning how to take a hit on the gridiron is actually great prep for the physical and mental intensity of leaving the atmosphere.

Fast forward to 30 years, the former defensive end is literally out of this world and now is one of the pilots for the Artemis II mission’s ‘dream team’ that includes Commander Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, who are currently steering the Orion spacecraft toward the Moon.

How’s the space mission going, and what’s next for Victor Glover?

This trip won’t involve a lunar landing; instead, the crew will fly around the Moon to test the spacecraft’s critical life-support systems for future missions. This flight plan will take them more than 248,000 miles from Earth, setting a record for the farthest any human has ever traveled into space.

This isn’t Glover’s first trip to space; his experience includes a six-month mission on the International Space Station in 2020, where he became the first Black astronaut on a long-duration stay and completed four spacewalks. That extensive background, combined with his experience flying over 40 aircraft types in 24 combat missions, prepares him for the rigors of the Artemis II flight, which includes a strict in-flight exercise regimen to maintain muscle mass in zero gravity.

Even with all this, Victor stays grounded. He is a family man who loves his wife and four daughters. He also hopes to become a master djembe drummer one day. End of the day, Glover’s a walking proof that you can go from being a scrappy defensive back to the first Black man to fly toward the Moon.