Matt Ryan is a proven team leader and postseason quarterback, he just hasn't been able to secure a Super Bowl victory for the Atlanta Falcons. And while the team is currently in a state of turmoil, Ryan has kept a positive outlook and uplifted the group of guys around him. Ryan also did the same during his days as a member of the Boston College Eagles. From 2004-2007, Matt Ryan put up an impressive 9,313 yards through the air for 56 touchdowns. Ryan won the Manning Award his senior year (2007) and was also named MVP of the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.
Matt Ryan was drafted 3rd overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons where he's played his entire twelve-season career. The same year he was drafted he was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year, won NFL MVP honors in 2016, and has been invited to the Pro Bowl a total of four times. During the 2016 season, he led the Falcons to Super Bowl LI but failed to secure the Lombardi Trophy against the New England Patriots. In 2013, Ryan signed a five-year contract extension worth $103.7 million and signed an additional five-year extension in 2018 worth, $150 million. Matt Ryan's 2018 contract was the largest in NFL history until Aaron Rodgers mega-contract a few months later.
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."