2014 COMC pickups #1: are you ready for some football inserts?

Welcome to the first of what should be a nice number of posts showing off my COMC pickups for 2014 so far.  In a break with tradition, I may actually finish showing all of them off THIS YEAR.  I know, right?  I have almost 100 cards to post, not including anything I pick up while this series is still going on, so let's get right down to it with the first group.

Today, since I've been doing a bunch of baseball player collection posts, I decided to switch back to Michigan Football in the form of inserts that I nabbed.  Those of you who like Refractors should especially enjoy this post!

Tim Biakabutuka 2001 Topps Chrome Refractor

Everybody's Buckeye-killing rusher is back and better than ever in Refractor form!  Tim compiled career highs in games played (12) and attempts (173) plus receiving TDs (2) in 2000, his penultimate season, but it was a step down from his career-best 1999 campaign.  Fortunately, Topps had no problem including him in 2001's Chrome set, meaning he also got a Refractor version of this fantastic photo.

Jeremy LeSueur 2004 Bowman Chrome Refractor

LeSueur, he of the hard-to-spell last name, was a three-year starter at DB for the Wolverines from 2001-2003.  The Broncos took him in the 3rd round, 85th overall, in 2004, and he went on to appear in just three NFL games, with the Jets the following year.  He appears on some 37 NFL cards in 2004 products, none being hits, but I was happy to grab this rookie Refractor from one of the Bowman Chrome designs I enjoy.

Chris Perry 2005 Topps Chrome Refractor

Despite being a Heisman-finalist, hyped first-rounder, Perry only played parts of four NFL seasons.  This Refractor (which utilizes purple for some strange reason) includes his stats from his 2004 rookie season; he wouldn't have a rushing TD to show off until his final year, 2008 (he DID catch two scores in 2005).  I'll always remember his awesome 2003 season in Ann Arbor, amassing almost 1700 rushing yards, 18 run TDs, and two more on catches.

Anthony Thomas 2002 Donruss Gridiron Kings Inserts (#0719/2000)

Today's combo-breaker is the A-Train, Anthony Thomas.  A Bears second-rounder, he followed up a 50-TD Michigan career with 24 NFL scores over seven years.  When I was digging for Refractors (like the one below), I happened to notice this football version of the Diamond King and knew I had to grab it--it's a fantastic artistic card and it's numbered!

Anthony Thomas 2004 Topps Chrome Refractor

This Refractor includes A-Train's 2003 stats, and that was actually his final quality season, just his third in the league.  Thomas went over 1000 yards for the second and final time in his career (after his rookie season) and scored six TDs, tying the previous season's count, and one off his high, again from his rookie campaign, when he was named the offensive rookie of the year.  The design from this 2004 card looks light years better than 2005's--no purple!

Check out these inserts and more in my Michigan Football Inserts album (which needs a lot of work), and stay tuned for lots more goodies from COMC!