While the Detroit Lions aren't considered a top tier NFL franchise they have had some of the greatest NFL talent put on their jersey every Sunday and pull off some amazing feats. The most amazing Detroit Lions athlete ever to grace the football field has to be one, Barry Sanders. Standing at just 5'8, Sanders is one of the most elusive and creative running backs to ever play the game. If he was able to get to outside of the field, he was nearly impossible to catch. Breakaway speed and excellent field vision allowed him to become the Hall of Famer he is today.
During his tenure as a member of the Oklahoma State Cowboys he won the 1988 Heisman Trophy in his junior year racking up 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns. His collegiate performance at Oklahoma State led him tobeing picked 3rd overall in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Detriot Lions where he would play all ten seasons of his NFL career (1989-1998). Sanders went on to be invited to the Pro Bowl every season he played (10x) and was named NFL MVP in 1997. Sanders currently holds the third place rushing yards record with 15,269 and is ranked tenth in rushing touchdowns with 99. Though he's had a Hall of Fame career, Barry Sanders is regarded as the best player ever to not have played in a Super Bowl.
When we think of inventors, the image that comes to mind is usually that of a frazzled scientist toiling away in a lab, not celebrities pulled from the pages of Us Weekly. However, a number of well-known public figures hold patents for various innovations. Some are related to the work that made them famous, while others are offshoots of hobbies or just a single great idea.
Part of guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen's signature sound was his two-handed tapping technique, but letting all ten fingers fly while simultaneously holding up the guitar's neck could get a bit tricky. Van Halen came up with a novel way to get around this problem, though; he invented a support (top) that could flip out of the back of his axe's body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like "Eruption." While Van Halen was obviously interested in improving his guitar work, the patent application he filed in 1985 notes that the device would work with any stringed instrument. Want to tap out a scorching mandolin solo? Find someone selling Eddie's device.
It’s probably not surprising that James Cameron—who designed a submersible to take him to the deepest known part of the ocean—will often invent technology to make his films if what he needs doesn’t exist. He holds a number of patents, including US Patent No. 4996938, “apparatus for propelling a user in an underwater environment,” that he and his brother, Michael, created to film The Abyss and patented in 1989. The device is basically an underwater dolly equipped with propellers that makes it easy for a camera operator to maneuver in the water—and allowed Cameron to capture the shots he wanted for the 1989 film, part of which was filmed in an abandoned nuclear reactor.
In 1987 Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes. She hasn't profited from her idea yet, though, since she refuses to license the patent until diaper companies make biodegradable products.
You know him as a rock legend, but Neil Young also loves trains—so much that he owns a stake in a model train manufacturing company and has an extensive collection. He also holds seven patents related to model trains, including Patent No. US5441223, "Model train controller using electromagnetic field between track and ground."