Rookie Blue-out part 1: one-card wonders

Over the last couple months of 2015 I made a big push to acquire lots of cards for my Michigan Football RC PC, and between Sportlots and COMC I made a ton of progress.  Now I'm slowly but surely showing them off in various bunches.  Hit the link above to see the album or have a look at my checklist here.  (You can also use the links in the "Rookie Blue: Michigan Football rookies collection" section on the right sidebar)

Welcome to post #1 in this series.  How many there will be is totally up in the air as I don't plan to consistently post a specific number of cards each time.  I doubt I'll even always have a theme in mind as I do these, so anything goes!  Today's post does have a theme, though--each one of these players had exactly one rookie card, so I'm showing them off together while giving a quick bit of info about the guys that haven't made an appearance here yet (which is most of them).

Bobby Abrams 1992 Pacific RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  DB/LB

Drafted?:  Undrafted

Pro career:  1990-95

Team(s):  Giants, Browns, Cowboys, Vikings, Patriots

Notes:  Good OLB for excellent late-80s Michigan teams;  ugly Pacific logo and vertical text, but a solid photo!

Corwin Brown 1994 Collector's Choice RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  S

Drafted?:  1993 4th round, Patriots

Pro career:  1993-2000

Team(s):  Patriots, Jets, Lions

Notes:  More well-known as coach (generally DBs), especially Notre Dame and Patriots;  involved in police standoff in 2011

Stevie Brown 2013 Topps RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  DB

Drafted?:  2010 7th round, Raiders

Pro career:  2010-14

Team(s):  Raiders, Colts, Giants

Notes:  Played both LB and DB in college, improved each season; blew up for 8 INT in 2012;  had to wait until 2013 Topps for his RC (I guess that high INT count helped, eh?)

Chris Calloway 1990 Action Packed Rookie Update RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  WR

Drafted?:  1990 4th round, Steelers

Pro career:  1990-2000

Team(s):  Steelers, Giants, Falcons, Patriots

Notes:  Spent the bulk of his career (92-98) with the Giants and did fairly well with them;  who else misses Action Packed?!

Joe Cocozzo 1993 Pro Set RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  G

Drafted?:  1993 3rd round, Chargers

Pro career:  1993-97

Team(s):  Chargers

Notes:  Very good OL for some good early-90s Michigan teams;  played lots and started many games for '94 AFC champ Chargers;  I'm surprised I hadn't heard of him before I started this project;  Pro Set really changed a lot from year-to-year!

Dean Dingman 1991 Score RC

Michigan uniform?:  Yes! (airbrushed helmet)

About:  discussed in this post

Notes:  Very nice college photo of an OL blocking!

Charles Drake 2003 Upper Deck MVP RC

Michigan uniform?:  Yes!  100%

Position(s):  S

Drafted?:  2003 7th round, Giants

Pro career:  None

Team(s):  Giants

Notes:  Drake is one of several Wolverines in this set, which has full-on Wolverines unis with zero airbrushing!;  sadly, Drake passed away in 2012

Mike Evans 1992 Skybox Prime Time RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  DL

Drafted?:  1992 4th round, Chiefs

Pro career:  1992

Team(s):  Chargers

Notes:  Fleer/Skybox made some wonky sets in the 90s!;  had a pretty nice career as DL for Michigan in the early 90s

Jonathan Goodwin 2005 Topps Total RC (with Kevin Mawae and Jason Fabini)

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  C

Drafted?:  2002 5th round, Jets

Pro career:  2002-2014

Team(s):  Jets, Saints, 49ers

Notes:  2002 rookie had to wait until '05 for a RC--them's the breaks for OL;  was starting C for Super Bowl XLIV champ Saints in 2009-10

James Hall 2004 Topps Total RC (with Robert Porcher)

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  DE

Drafted?:  Undrafted

Pro career:  2000-2011

Team(s):  Lions, Rams

Notes:  63.0 career sacks, including 11.5 in 2004 and 10.5 in 2010;  won a national championship with the 1997 Wolverines;  had to wait until 2004 for his RC, shared with quality DL stalwart Robert Porcher (who was in his final season)

Mercury Hayes 1996 Collector's Choice RC

Michigan uniform?:  Yes! (airbrushed helmet and jersey)

About:  discussed in this post

Notes:  One of two '96 Collector's Choice cards in this post!

Tommy Hendricks 2000 Leaf Limited RC (#0323/1500)

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  DB, LB

Drafted?:  Undrafted

Pro career:  2000-04

Team(s):  Dolphins, Jaguars

Notes:  Was the starting FS for the '97 national champs;  funny that his only RC is a higher-end, numbered Leaf Limited card!;  father Thomas Jr. was RB for Wolverines in the mid-50s

Roy Manning 2005 Sweet Spot RC (#777/899)

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  LB

Drafted?:  Undrafted

Pro career:  2005-07

Team(s):  Packers, Texans, Bengals

Notes:  Another high-end, numbered one-and-done!;  Manning is known more around these parts as a coach--he coached Michigan's LBs and DBs in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and is now with WSU

Steve Morrison 1998 UD Choice RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  LB

Drafted?:  Undrafted

Pro career:  1995-98

Team(s):  Colts

Notes:  One of my favorite Collector's Choice/UD Choice designs;  had a pretty nice career coaching in high school and then college

Jon Runyan 1996 Collector's Choice RC

Michigan uniform?:  Yes! (airbrushed helmet)

Position(s):  OT

Drafted?:  1996 4th round, Oilers/Titans

Pro career:  1996-2009

Team(s):  Oilers/Titans, Eagles, Chargers

Notes:  I have one auto of his but haven't gone into detail about his career;  excellent tackle went on to enjoy a long NFL career;  former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R, NJ);  he's our other '96 Collector's Choice card today, and he and Hayes join Tim Biakabutuka from that set

Andre Weathers 2000 Pacific RC

Michigan uniform?:  No

Position(s):  DB

Drafted?: 1999 6th round, Giants 

Pro career:  1999-2000

Team(s):  Giants

Notes:  One of the nicer (read:  not eye-destroying) Pacific sets!;  his pick-six beat the Buckeyes during Michigan's '97 title run

I hope some of you, especially my fellow Michigan fans, found this look at one RC players interesting!  Look for lots more posts in this series soon.

COMC haul #37: rooting for the Niners with nine QBs

(Note:  all COMC haul posts can be accessed here)

As I write this post up the Super Bowl is fast approaching.  Did you know both coaches are brothers?  I don't think the media has brought up that little-known fact.  Harbaugh rivalry aside (and I'm thrilled for both of them), so I can make the game a bit interesting for myself, I'm rooting against Ray "Deer antler spray and murderin' all day" Lewis while I root for the team with three Michigan ties.  Yep, the Wolverines can claim San Fran head coach Jim Harbaugh, Center Jonathan Goodwin, and injured WR Mario Manningham as distinguished alumni.

Harbaugh's rise has been especially impressive, as he rode a very successful college coaching career to the 49ers HC position, where he's already led them to the big game in just his second season.  I'd say the decision to continue with the talented Colin Kaepernick over average-but-able Alex Smith paid off, wouldn't you?

Anyway, in honor of the game that gets squeezed in between commercials and an always awful halftime show, here are nine more COMC pickups of three different QBs, one of whom was a Super Bowl MVP himself!

Chad Henne 2008 Bowman Sterling Blue jersey (#068/399)

Chad Henne 2008 Bowman Sterling Green jersey (#176/299)

Chad Henne 2008 Press Pass Legends Saturday Signatures auto

Chad Henne 2008 Upper Deck Premier Stitchings College Logo-Variation Gold manupatch (#13/15)

Chad Henne 2009 Score Inscriptions Autographs Gold Zone auto (#06/50)

Chad Henne 2009 Upper Deck Signature Shots auto

Now that's the way to start it off right!  Henne is obviously one of my favorites, and if you couldn't figure that out before, showing off a six-pack probably helps.  The two Sterlings are parallels of his "base" jersey-RC I have, though of course I much prefer the Blue.  The Saturday Signatures auto is yet another nice example of a quality autographed card put out by Press Pass, and of course the Michigan uni is a huge bonus here.  The UD logo is admittedly a bit gimmicky, but I still think it's pretty cool, and it pairs up well with the one I previously bought of Mike Hart.  The Score is a good example of a card I wish didn't have such an obvious sticker, but I think they at least used a fantastic photo.  Finally, I don't think the Signature Shots' design is as good as the one from the previous year, mainly because of the sticker auto and the fact that it's perpendicular to the card for some reason.  Still a good looker otherwise, though.

Before we move on to the rest, I'd like to mention the fact that Henne has officially leapfrogged the 50-hit mark, finishing the haul at an awesome 54!  This places him second only to Jake Long's 64 and jumps him over Braylon Edwards' 50.  Those three remain the sole members of my 50-hit club...FOR NOW!

Elvis Grbac 2001 Private Stock Game Worn Gear jersey

Elvis Grbac 2001 Private Stock Game Worn Gear patch (#286/300)

Shouldn't every team have a QB named Elvis?  I was sorely lacking in hits of him before I found these two, and only had this autograph (which I especially want to show off in light of the team I'm rooting for tonight):

Yeah, the card says "Chiefs" but he's pictured as a 49er.  That's just as confusing as the Pacific cards above, listing him as a Raven (BOOOOOO!) despite the fact that he's shown in a Chiefs uni, ostensibly the source of the relics.  That actually covers all four NFL teams from his career, which is cool.

Anyway, the two relics hail from 2001 Pacific Private Stock's football version of its first one-relic-per-pack baseball set.  The number of players in the set was huge, so pulling better players and patches was exceedingly difficult.  Fortunately, more than 10 years later, the Internet makes all things possible!  The jersey is nice enough, but of course, the patch is where it's at:  two colors and some nice stitching at the top.  I had to pay a tad more for this one compared to the other available on the site at the time, but as that one was only single-colored, it was totally worth it.  And now I've tripled my Grbac total.  Elvis is in the building!

Tom Brady 2008 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Red Materials jersey (#006/150)

Finally, we have the Super Bowl MVP of today's post.  I rarely get the opportunity to pick up a Brady relic for a reasonable price, and the only reason I even already had one in my collection was a trade way back with Beardy, who may or may not have existed.  I'm definitely happy with my first purchase, though, which features a nice gray swatch on one of my favorite designs, 2008 LCM.  It sure doesn't hurt that it's serial-numbered, of course, but I think the red really works nicely with the bit of the color on his Patriots jersey.  Hopefully before long I'll have more than just two hits of one of the NFL's greatest QBs.

One more quick milestone before I'm done today, but a very worthwhile one:  these nine hits give me a nice even four-sport total of 900!  I've mentioned before that I'd like to track the various milestones and when I've hit them, and I'll get to that at some point soon, but for now, I look forward to 1000!

And with that I'm off to watch the game.  I hope Spankee's pack-based prediction holds true and Michigan continues its streak of placing at least one player on each Super Bowl-winning team. (last broken in 2002)  Go Harbaughs, go Niners, and GO BLUE!