Peyton Manning is one of the most calculated and diabolical field generals to ever hit the football field. His ability to read a defense flawlessly and audible at the line of scrimmage a plethora of times to ensure he makes the right decision with the football is one of the most impressive sights to see as an analytical admirer of the sport. Not to mention his precision and arm strength are uncanny assets to his already genius football mind. The son of the famed ex-quarterback and brother of Eli Manning played his college football at the University of Tennessee from 1994 to 1997. During his four-year tenure with the Tennessee Volunteers, Manning ended his career with a quarterback rating of 147.1 while throwing a total of 11,201 yards, and 89 touchdowns. In his senior with the team, Manning led the Volunteers to a comeback 30-29 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship game.
Following his historic college football career, Peyton Manning was selected 1st overall in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. As a. member of the Colts for fourteen seasons, Manning threw for over 4,000 yards a total of ten seasons and led the league in passer rating for three consecutive seasons from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, Manning led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI and was awarded Super Bowl MVP honors for his 247 passing yards and one touchdown performance. After missing the entire 2011 season due to a neck injury, Manning took his talents to Denver and led them to a championship, winning Super Bowl 50 over the Carolina Panthers. The 14x Pro Bowler currently holds NFL records for most touchdown passes (539), AP MVP Awards (5), Pro Bowl appearances (14), 4,000-yard passing seasons (14), and more. After winning Super Bowl 50 in 2015, Manning gracefully bowed out of the game for good.
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."