Louisiana might be the greatest football state of all-time. The multi-cultural boot-shaped territory has provided us with Hall of Fame personalities like Willie Davis, Terry Bradshaw, Marshall Faulk, Ed Reed, and more. You could possibly make some arguments for these guys, but we have to give the Louisiana crown to quarterback and guaranteed future Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning. In his senior year at the University of Tennessee, Peyton Manning led his team to a comeback win against Auburn to win the SEC Championship. His performance in that final game led him to become the first overall pick in the 199 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
In fourteen seasons with the Colts, the 14x Pro-Bowler led the franchise to Super Bowl XLI where they defeated the Chicago Bears, 29-17. Later in his career, Manning led the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl 50 where he led the Colorado club to victory over the Carolina Panthers, 24-10. Manning is the only quarterback ever to lead two different franchises to Super Bowl victories. Not to mention, he also holds the record for most touchdown passes with 539, most touchdown passes in a season with 55, most passing yards in a season with 5,477, and most touchdowns ina single game with 7. If there ever was a god-level quarterback, it is Peyton Manning.
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."