Jeremy Bloom is an American former skier and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. As a skier, he is a one-time world champion, two-time Olympian, and 10-time

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

gold medalist. He was inducted into the

National Ski Hall of Fame The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Ishpeming, Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States. Located in the state's Upper Peninsula, the building includes the hall of fame and museum, as well as a t ...

in 2013. Bloom was a freshman All-American at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of C ...

. He was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The t ...

in the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

and was also a member of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

, but did not play a competitive game for either team.

Personal life

Bloom was born in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 169,810 at the 2020 census, an increase of 17.94% since 2010. Fort Collin ...

, the son of Charlene, a ski and fly fishing instructor, and Larry Bloom, a clinical psychologist, and grew up in nearby Loveland. His older sister,

Molly Bloom Molly Bloom is a fictional character in the 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' by James Joyce. The wife of main character Leopold Bloom, she roughly corresponds to Penelope in the '' Odyssey''. The major difference between Molly and Penelope is that while ...

, is an author and former organizer of illegal poker games who wrote ''Molly's Game'', and was the inspiration for the film of the same name. His cousin is ice hockey player

Colby Cohen Colby Shane Cohen (born April 25, 1989) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche and in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, the minor league affiliate of the Bo ...

. Bloom's father is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and his mother is Christian.

Skiing career

Bloom grew up skiing in

Keystone, Colorado Keystone is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Summit County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Keysto ...

. At 15 he became the youngest male freestyle skier to ever make the

United States Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and a ...

. On November 24, 2008, Bloom announced his intention to attend the United States ski team's training camp to assess the possibility of a 2010 return to Olympic skiing. Bloom was featured in ''The Weight of Gold'' (2020), an HBO Sports Documentary which "explor(es) the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face."

College football career

Bloom was a wide receiver and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

football team. He was selected to the first-team Freshman All-America list by the FWAA. On October 5, 2002, Bloom caught a pass from Robert Hodge against Kansas State in Boulder that resulted in a touchdown. On this play Bloom set four Colorado team records that stood as of 2020: all-time longest passing play, longest scoring play from scrimmage, longest gain on a first career reception, longest gain by a freshman. Bloom holds the Colorado team record for most combined return yards (kick & punt) in a single game, set against

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

on October 4, 2003 (143 kickoff and 107 punt).

Professional football career

Philadelphia Eagles

On April 30, 2006, Bloom was selected by the

in the fifth round (147th overall) of the

. He was featured in the NFL TV show ''Hey Rookie, Welcome To The NFL''. He practiced with the team all through mini-camp as a punt and kick returner, but injured his

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

during training camp, placing him on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

. Bloom remained with the team for the 2006 season. After spending his entire rookie year on injured reserve, Bloom averaged 20.3 yards on 12 kickoff returns and 7.8 yards on 10 punt returns during the 2007 preseason. He was released by the Eagles prior to the regular season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On December 31, 2007, Bloom was signed by the

in preparation for the 2008 AFC playoff game against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team plays ...

. He began 2008 training camp with the Steelers. He was released by the Steelers on August 25, 2008.

Other ventures

In March 2003, Bloom won the 30th annual CBS Superstars Competition in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

; he defeated nine professional athletes that included Dexter Jackson,

Ahman Green Ahman Rashad Green (; born February 16, 1977) is a former American football running back who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Green played college football at Nebraska and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 3rd ro ...

, and Will Allen. In 2012, Bloom participated in the dating game show '' The Choice''. In April 2010, Bloom along with Hart Cunningham co-founded the marketing software company, Integrate. In 2013, Bloom was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Bloom is a college football and Olympic sports television analyst and has worked for ESPN, Fox, NBC and The Pac-12 Network.

References

External links

U.S. Olympic Team bioPhiladelphia Eagles bioPittsburgh Steelers bioThe Wish of a Lifetime
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Jeremy 1982 births Living people People from Loveland, Colorado American male freestyle skiers Male models from Colorado Olympic freestyle skiers of the United States American football return specialists American football wide receivers University of Colorado alumni Colorado Buffaloes football players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players College football announcers Freestyle skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Participants in American reality television series Jewish American sportspeople Players of American football from Colorado 21st-century American Jews Olympic Games broadcasters