Lacerated Kidney to Licensed Pilot: NFL Tight End Takes Unexpected Journey

For NFL tight end Luke Musgrave, an injury during his rookie season presented an unexpected opportunity. Instead of focusing solely on recovery, he channeled his energy into realizing a lifelong dream—flying.

Musgrave spent his college years playing football for Oregon State before being selected  by the Green Bay Packers during the second round of the 2023 NFL draft. Just 11 weeks into his rookie season with the Packers, Musgrave sustained an injury during a game against the Los Angeles Chargers that sidelined him for weeks. 

“My rookie year [in 2023, I] caught an out route [and] fell on the [football] point up,” Musgrave said in an NFL Players Association (NFLPA) YouTube video. “Got up, just thought I got the wind knocked out of me and ended up playing the rest of the game. Later that night…realized I had a serious issue. Went to the hospital…lacerated kidney.”

Injuries for professional athletes aren’t uncommon by any stretch, but they do leave what is normally energetic and active folks cooped up with little to do besides rest and recover. For Musgrave, the spare time, combined with a little motivation from his fiancée, presented the perfect chance to pursue his lifelong desire to learn to fly. 

“My fiancée told me I needed to find something to do to keep me productive,” Musgrave said. “So, it dawned on me, ‘Why not start ground school?’ I enrolled in an online course, and I really thought it was super interesting. From there, I set up flight school in the off-season, started flying, and loved it.”

After ground school, Musgrave continued his flight training at Pilotsmith, a Wisconsin-based flight school with multiple locations across the state. 

As part of the NFLPA’s AthleteAnd YouTube series, Musgrave detailed his journey from injury to private pilot, which included a thorough preflight check of a Cessna 172 before lifting off on a sightseeing excursion over Green Bay, Wisconsin. During the flight, Musgrave flew over Lambeau Field, the legendary stadium that the Packers call home.

As far as similarities between America’s most-popular sport and flying go, Musgrave said both require serious attention to detail. 

“[They’re about] making sure you’re paying attention, locked in, doing what they instruct you to do,” he said. “I always thought that the biggest similarity would be for a quarterback because they get told the play, and then they have to regurgitate it back. So when you file an IFR clearance, they give you a big clearance, then you have to regurgitate it back.”

At the time of the release of the AthleteAnd episode on Thursday, Musgrave is an instrument-rated private pilot and about halfway through earning his commercial certificate. After finishing up his commercial training, he wants to start flying in the right seat for some Part 91 operators, hopefully serving as second in command (SIC) on some Cessna Citation CJ1s and CJ3s.

The ultimate goal, according to Musgrave, is to obtain his type rating so that he can potentially pursue a second career in flying once his time in the NFL comes to a close. 

Competition for pro athletes always ends, either at the end of a season or a career. But what always remains is the competitive drive to accomplish a goal and constantly be working toward the pursuit of perfection. 

“It’s also a way to step back, refresh your mind, and work on something else…whether it be off-season or you’re retiring or maybe you have a big injury like I did,” Musgrave said. “It’s a great way to keep the competitive edge, stay in that mindset of wanting to better myself, but refreshing from the…really hard aspect of football.”