Before the Bag: Terrell Suggs, 2002 Arizona State

He set a record 24 years ago that nobody's come close to since. Before NIL, it was worth $0

Before the Bag is a weekly look back at a college football legend from before NIL existed; and an opinion-based estimate of what they’d actually be worth if they played today.

The Player, The Moment

Terrell Suggs was a high school running back before Arizona State converted him to defensive end. In 2002, his junior season, he set an NCAA single-season sack record that still stands more than two decades later: 24 sacks, shattering the previous record of 17.5. He also led the nation with 31.5 tackles for loss, was a unanimous first-team All-American, won the Nagurski, Hendricks, and Lombardi awards, and helped drag Arizona State to an 8-6 record, its first winning season since 1997. He finished his college career with 44 sacks and 65.5 tackles for loss, both still ASU records. The sack mark isn’t just his record anymore; it’s the record, full stop, and nobody has come within striking distance of it since.

There was no NIL in 2002. The single greatest pass-rushing season college football has ever seen; one that’s now outlasted every other record on this list in terms of how long it’s stood unbroken, produced zero off-field income for the player who authored it.

So what would that season be worth today? I built an estimate, and this one comes with a real surprise buried in the numbers.