Despite being a Los Angeles high school football legend and attending Stanford during his college years, John Elway was born in Port Angeles, Washington, leaving him to hold the crown of the Evergreen State over of Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher. As previously stated, Elway spent his collegiate years at Stanford University where he not only excelled at football but baseball as well. Elway was so good at baseball, he was drafted in the 1981 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees. Elway went on to play with the team's affiliate team Oneonta Yankees prior to choosing football as his ultimate pro-sports career.
After having major success in college, Elway was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Colts in the 1983 NFL Draft. Due to contract struggles and Elway's unwillingness to play in Baltimore, he later joined the Denver Broncos where he would become a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback. Elway's NFL career was one hell of a rollercoaster losing three Super Bowls prior to being the driving force the franchises first Super Bowl victory at Super Bowl XXXII. The next year, Elway led the Broncos to another championship. With one NFL MVP (1987), one Super Bowl MVP (Super Bowl XXXIII) and nine Pro Bowl selections, his career wasn't perfect, but he never backed down and wasn't afraid to fail. To this very day, Elway works closely with the Denver Broncos franchise.
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."