While many might want to give the crown for the greatest New York Jet of all-time to Joe Namath, his main wideout and favorite target in Don Maynard stood the test of time, stretching his prime years a little further than Namath's making him the king of New York. While his era of wide receivers might not have been the most athletic, there's no doubt that if Namath threw it in his direction, Maynard was coming down with it.
The now 84-year-old played his college ball at Texas Western University and went on to b selected 109th overall in the ninth round of the 1957 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Two years later, Maynard was cut by the Giants and took his talents to the CFL for a year before signing with the New York Titans/Jets in 1960 where he would play the majority of his career. Throughout the '60s Maynard would go on to have four 1,200-yard seasons and lead the Jets to an AFL Championship in 1968 and Super Bowl victory in 1969 (Super Bowl III).
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."