Matt Stafford is another one of those dependable quarterbacks that has flown under the radar the past decade. While he fights for his team to succeed, it never seems like the Detroit Lions have all of the right tools to make it deep into the postseason. In 2006, Matthew Stafford became the first true freshman quarterback to start at quarterback for the University of Georgia Bulldogs since Quincy Carter in 1998. Stafford would go on to lead the Bulldogs to victory in the 2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl, the 2008 Sugar Bowl, and the 2008 Capitol One Bowl.
After having so much success in the SEC, Stafford was drafted 1st overall in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions where he's played his entire career. While Stafford has only been invited to the Pro Bowl one time, where he also won Offensive MVP in 2014, he holds a couple of notable NFL records under his belt. Stafford is the fastest quarterback to reach 40,000 passing yards, he also holds the record for most comeback wins in a season with 8 (2016), and he's the fourth quarterback to throw over 5,000 in a single season. In 2017, Stafford signed a five-year, $135 million extension with the Lions making him the highest-paid athlete in the NFL at the time.
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."