“In my day I think the toughest was Derek Harper. The old-school Derek Harper. He was tough. He had the most toughest, nastiest game ever. I hated playing against him because he would always try to rip you, and try to talk to you. People just didn't really know that about Derek Harper. I used to hate bringing the ball up against him, really.”

American astronaut and USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer

Gary Eugene Payton is an American astronaut and former United States Air Force Manned Spaceflight Engineer. He flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-51-C mission in 1985. Payton later served as Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force under the Bush and Obama administrations. His public profile is tied to military service, spaceflight, and senior civilian leadership in the Air Force.