Mark Brunell was one of those quarterbacks that was so extremely dominant as an adolescent and during his collegiate football career, he might have underperformed to the masses expectations throughout his official professional football career. His ability to find work around the league for a total of nineteen seasons might also be the cause of his inflated numbers. While Brunell was mediocre at times, he was a steady option at the quarterback position for many clubs during his tenure in the NFL. Brunell attended the University of Washington from 1989 to 1992 where he would have to battle for starting quarterback rights his entire four-season tenure with the Huskies. The 6'1 quarterback would go on to lead the Huskies to a National Championship in 2001 and be crowned the Rose Bowl MVP.
After his rollercoaster college career came to an end, Mark Brunell went on to be drafted 118th overall in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers where he would only play a total of two seasons and not take a single snap under center during his first season with the team. However, Brunell's most prominent years during his career would happen to take place in Jacksonville (1995-2003), where he would become a 3x Pro Bowler and lead the team to the playoffs four times out the nine seasons he played with the Jaguars. Brunell would eventually pick up a ring as a backup quarterback in New Orleans after Brees led the Saints to a victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Brunell would see short stints with the Washington Redskins and New York Jets before officially retiring in 2012.
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."