No offense to Jay Cutler or his family and friends, but he earned a lot of money without ever being a reliable frontman leader for the franchises he took the field for. Don't get us wrong, he's put up some amazing numbers, but for some reason, he always came up short. Cutler attended Vanderbilt University where he started all 45 games that he played in from 2002-2005. In 2005, he was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year and helped lead the Commodores to a 28-24 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers. This was the first time Vanderbilt had beaten Tennessee since 1982, the same year Cutler was born.
Jay Cutler was drafted 11th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos where he played his first three seasons as an NFL quarterback. While he was able to put up a career-best in total passing yards his final season in Denver notching 4,526 yards through the air, he cut ties with the team and took his talents to the Chicago Bears where he played his most prominent years. In 2009, Cutler signed a two-year, $28.9 million with the Chicago Bears and a seven-year $127.6 million extension with the team in 2014. After underperforming in the 2016 season, Cutler was cut by the Bears thus terminating his contract. Cutler retired but was called out of retirement by the Miami Dolphins after their starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a season-ending injury. Cutler signed a one-year deal worth $10 million and was asked not to return following the end of the season. However, he did end his career earning over $122 million in total.
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."