After 39 states and NFL alumni have been crowned, we've finally got our first kicker on the list, representing the smallest state in the country. The king of the Plantation State officially belongss to none other than Al Del Greco. Former NFL safety and returnman, Will Blackmon, is also a Rhode Island native, but didn't have quite the NFL career, Del Greco went on to have as a placekicker. Del Greco took his golden leg down south to play his collegiate ball at Auburn University where he his tied for most field goals in a single game (6) and currently ranked fifth in the career scoring list notching a total of 236 points.
While kickers tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the NFL Draft, Del Greco went undrafted in 1984, but later signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers that same year. Instantly, Del Greco earned his on-field moniker, 'Automatic Al' as he went to make 347 of his 439 field goal attempts (77.3%), 551 out of his 554 extra point kicks (99.46%), scoring a total of 1,592 points in seventeen seasons in the NFL. With that many points under his belt, Del Greco is currently 21st on the NFL's All-Time Scoring Leaders list. With Al Del Greco repping for the kickers on this list, you gotta put some respect on his name.
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."