Kurt Warner's journey into professional sports could be converted to an award-winning, tear-jerker, blockbuster film. Prior to becoming a Hall of Fame quarterback, Warner was third on the University of Northern Iowa's depth chart before he got the chance to take to the field and become an overnight sensation. When he declared for the 1994 NFL Draft, unfortunately, he went undrafted, but was eventually signed by the Green Bay Packers as a free agent.
After playing in an arena football league and in the NFL Europe for a couple of seasons, Kurt Warner got the opportunity to play for the St. Louis Rams in 1998 where he led the team to a Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans in 1999. Warner became the first undrafted quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory and the only undrafted quarterback to win Super Bowl MVP. Warner also was a 4x NFL Pro-Bowler and 2x NFL MVP. Kurt Warner went on to play for the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals where he led the team to their first-ever Super Bowl berth in 2008. We can see the Kurt Warner biopic coming to theaters in the near future.
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."