There aren't too many quarterbacks that have ever been able to make their own play calls throughout the midst of a game but one man in Terry Bradshaw did just that and became one of the greatest passers to ever take the field. It takes an extreme amount of courage, poise, and leadership to take ten other alpha personalities and direct them in unison for a greater cause then themselves and Terry Bradshaw didn't only have the balls to do so, he also had one of the most powerful arms football has ever seen. From 1966 to 1969, Terry Bradshaw attended Louisiana Tech University to play his college ball. In his first two seasons, Bradshaw started behind Phil Robertson, who is now known as the inventor of the duck caller and television personality on the reality show, Duck Dynasty. His junior year, Bradshaw led the Bulldogs to a 9-2 season and 33-13 victory over Akron in the Rice Bowl. His senior year, Bradshaw led the Bulldogs to an 8-2 overall record.
In the 1970 NFL Draft, Terry Bradshaw was selected 1st overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers where he would play his entire fourteen-season NFL career. In his second season with the Steelers, Bradshaw became the starting quarterback and helped the Steelers secure their first-ever championship defeating the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX. This win sparked a four-title reign within a six-year period as Bradshaw led the Steelers on field as a quarterback and technically an offensive coordinator winning Super Bowls, X, XIII, and XIV all the while being named MVP for his performances in Super Bowls XIII and XIV. Terry Bradshaw became the first quarterback ever to win three and four Super Bowls. Somehow, Bradshaw only was invited to three Pro Bowls (1975, 1978, and 1979) and earned one NFL MVP Award (1978).
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."