We're not the sure what exactly Papa Watt and Mama Watt were feeding their children, but the Watt family has produced three NFL athletes in T. J. Watt, Derek Watt, and J. J. Watt. The eldest of the three brothers in J. J. Watt is our selection for Wisconsin's greatest NFL athlete and for obvious reasons. J. J. played three years of college ball for Central Michigan and the University of Wisconsin where led the team in tackles, forced fumbles, and quarterback hurries during his junior year. Watt's impressive performance led him to be picked 11th overall by the Houston Texans in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Throughout his eight seasons with the Houston Texans, Watt has already claimed franchises records for both sacks and forced fumbles. Watt is also the first player in NFL history to record two 20+ sack seasons in a pro-football career. The 5x Pro Bowler is one of the few defensive players in the league with the ability to switch from defensive end to defensive tackle without losing any type of effectiveness. As of right now, Watt has notched 95 sacks, 468 tackles, and 23 forced fumbles and those numbers will continue to climb as long as he remains healthy. At this pace, J. J. Watt is looking at a Hall of Fame induction as soon as he's eligible.
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."