As college sports enters this brave new world of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rights, we thought it might be fun to look back at Northwestern athletes who would have profited the most if they had such rights when they were Wildcats.

As of July 1, college athletes are now able to make money selling their NIL. They can endorse products, sell T-shirts, make appearances, create social media content -- the potential is just about endless.

So we thought we would take a shot at identifying the Wildcats over the last 30 years or so who would have made the most money selling their NIL during their careers. We came up with a Top 10, and then a Next 10.

This list is for football and men's basketball players only, because those are the sports WildcatReport covers, and we don't know nearly enough about the athletes in other varsity men's or women's sports to have an educated opinion. It's also not a list of the best players; it has to do with a unique mix of talent, fame, personality, name recognition and marketability.

Do we know what we're talking about? Heck no. Does anyone at this juncture?

But we are pretty confident of one thing: our No. 1 is a slam dunk. As for the rest of the list, feel free to disagree.

Why? This is a no-brainer. Autry was the biggest star of the 1995 Rose Bowl team, an all-time Cinderella story that captured the entire nation's imagination. It was Autry who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It was Autry who was invited to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. He even appeared in a movie, for crying out loud. Add the fact that he was a theater major with an effervescent personality that loved the limelight, and it's easy to see why Autry heads this list. He's the kind of guy who could garner some interest from national, not just Chicago-area brands.

Why? Another natural in front of the camera, Jackson was a star from Day 1 and would have had four years to cash in on his fame. He also has a nickname "The Ballcarrier," ready made for marketing opportunities. Smart, polite, well-spoken and possessing a certain boy-next-door quality, Jackson would have been a marketer's dream. He's really taken things next level and gotten political since entering the NFL and now has nearly 119,000 Twitter followers.

Why? If Autry was the face of the 1995 Cats, Fitzgerald was its heart-and-soul. And it was the middle linebacker who collected most of the hardware: he was a two-time All-American and two-time winner of the Nagurski and Bednarik awards as the best defensive player in the nation. Fitzgerald, along with head coach Gary Barnett, made the cover of a 1995 TV Guide -- kids, ask your parents about it. His Chicago born-and-bred brand would pique the interest of many Chicago businesses.

Why? Speaking of jerseys, did anyone sell more jerseys than Sutton? His No. 19 was everywhere in the early 2000s. Another player who rocketed to stardom as a freshman, Sutton would have made a gold mine on jersey sales and signings alone. His career was marred by injuries his final two years, but his Q rating never faltered.

Why? Persa was the only player whose image appeared on billboards throughout the Chicago area, touting his short-lived Heisman campaign in 2011. Unfortunately, Persa got hurt that year and couldn't follow up on one of the greatest single seasons in Wildcat history. Still, we figure he could have made some money. Persa didn't exactly have the personality to be a big pitch man, but he moved a lot of No. 7 jerseys.

Why? B-Mac was the poster boy for the 2017 basketball team that finally broke through and made the NCAA Tournament. It was McIntosh who was the floor leader, and the guy that Steph Curry invited to his point guard camp over the next summer. The athletic department had a nice promotion capitalizing on his breaking the Northwestern all-time assist mark by passing out B-Mac "Dimes." He could have made some money on appearances and several other promotions attached to the one Northwestern basketball team that broke through in the Chicago media market.

Why? Carr has maybe the best personal story of all: a walkon who grinded his way to becoming the best receiver in the Big Ten and, eventually, an NFL player. On top of that, he played the piano, sang the National Anthem and was as smart as a whip. He was a true Renaissance Man. While he was virtually a nobody for three years of his Northwestern career, we figure he would have capitalized on that final year and done a lot of appearances and speaking engagements telling his story of hard work and perseverance. Corporate crowds eat that stuff up.

Why? People are fascinated by speed and Mark had lots of it. One of the most electric players to ever wear purple, Mark was an All-American punt returner in 2012, when he also ran for more than 1,300 yards as a running back. He sold a lot of No. 5 jerseys, too. We're thinking he could pitch anything where speed is of the essence: delivery services, cars for local auto dealers and how about Jimmy John's? Their tagline is already "Freaky Fast." So was Mark.

Why? Newsome just missed his window of opportunity. A born promoter with a lot of self-confidence, Newsome knows all about self-branding. On the field, he was an All-American cornerback who could cover anyone one-on-one. Off the field, he was just as compelling, as all of the recent NFL Draft coverage showed. Newsome has already started his own clothing line. He could've done that a couple years ago and made some money while he was still in Evanston, even if he was injured for much of his first two years.

Why? You know why. They are the tag-team responsible for the greatest play in Northwestern history -- in any sport. It was nominated as the Play of the Year for the 2017 ESPYs. While there were bigger individual stars on that first-ever NU NCAA Tournament team, we think that, together, Pardon and Taphorn could have capitalized on their moment of fame by making appearances, selling T-shirts, signing autographs and doing corporate engagements to talk about the importance of teamwork. It may have been just one moment, but that just might have been enough to make some dough.

In addition to the 10 above, we considered several other bankable Wildcats who could have also made a little coin. Here are some of the prominent names of our Next 10, in alphabetical order:

Damien Anderson: Heisman finalist who ran for 2,000 yards in a season

Brett Basanez: Four-year starting QB with lots of personality

D'Wayne Bates: Another star of the Cats' back-to-back 1995-96 Big Ten champs

Paddy Fisher: Four-year starter at middle linebacker

Brandon Joseph: All-American safety still has a couple years to cash in before he bolts to NFL

John Shurna: The Baby-Faced Assassin probably wouldn't have liked the attention

Joe Spivak: Funnyman oozes charisma and was born for his own YouTube show

Juice Thompson: Great nickname, great player, great guy

Clayton Thorson: Four-year starting QB has got to make some bank, right?

Anthony Walker Jr.: "The Franchise" played for a dominant defense and had a superhero's physique