Kirk Daniel Cousins was a three-sport athlete in high school playing football, basketball, and baseball (pitcher/third baseman). The 6'3 competitor took his talents to Michigan State University in 2007 where he was redshirted that same year. The following year, he played backup quarterback behind Brian Hoyer. In 2009, he won the starting quarterback job and led the Spartans 28-12 record during his tenure at the institution and a 4-0 record against the school's rival in the Michigan Wolverines.
Cousins went on to be drafted 102nd overall in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins under a rookie contract of just $2.5 million. Which came to be a surprise being that the Redskins had drafted Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III, the year before. After Griffin suffered some career-altering injuries in 2014, Cousins stepped up and set several franchise records as the team's starting quarterback for the next three seasons before signing an $84 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings. With a signing bonus of $3 million, endorsements, and incentives Cousins has accumulated a career earning of $100.6 million thus far.
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."