It was hard to believe that anyone filling the void Brett Favre left in Green Bay would be able to succeed. However, under the Hall of Fame quarterback's tutelage, he's become one of the greatest quarterbacks of this current generation. Extremely poised and precise, Aaron Rodgers has proven that he's the real deal and the best successor Green Bay could have asked for. Rodgers began his college football career just fifteen miles away from his hometown in Chico, California at Butte Community College in 2002. The following year, Rodgers took his talents to the University of California, Berkeley. After being named MVP of the 2003 Insight Bowl and throwing for 5,469 yards in just two seasons with Cal, Rodgers decided to opt for the 2005 NFL Draft.
Aaron Rodgers was drafted 24th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers where he didn't transition into the starting quarterback position until 2008 when Brett Favre announced his initial retirement. Since then, Rodgers has led the Packers to a championship victory in Super Bowl XLV where he also named the game's MVP. He's also been named the NFL MVP on two occasions in 2011 and 2014. In 2013, Rodgers signed a five-year extension with the Packers worth $110 million. In 2018, Rodgers signed an additional four-year contract extension worth $134 million lining his pockets with a total of $66.9 million for that single season.
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."