At an age where most kids are being kids, trying to make sense of the awkward teenage years, Jeremy Bloom was making history.
Raised on the Keystone ski slopes of Colorado, Bloom became a national champion skier at 14, and the following year, the youngest American male freestyle skier to make the U.S. Ski Team.
Bloom won gold in dual moguls at the 2003 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. In 2005, he became the first freestyle skier to win six straight races in a single season in the FIS World Cup Tour. With the wins, he ranked as the No. 1 freestyle skier in the world and the youngest moguls World Cup champion. The win-streak went unbeaten for seven years.
Overall, the two-time Olympian netted three World Championships and 11 World Cup gold medals. In the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic Games, he finished ninth and sixth, respectively.
As many athletes are, Bloom wasn’t a one-sport wonder. He also had a passion for the pigskin.
He achieved All-State honors for state championship Loveland High School football team and was a star returner for the Colorado Buffalos. With the Buffalos, Bloom was named to the Freshman All-Star team and went on to set several records, including the longest touchdown reception in school history (96 yards).
When his collegiate career was cut short after a lengthy battle with the NCAA over endorsements, he returned to training with the U.S. National Ski Team in 2005.
But football was never far from his heart and mind.
From pro skiing to pro football
After the 2006 Olympics, Bloom turned his focus back to football. Just days after returning from Turin, Italy, he set his sites on Indianapolis, Ind. — the home of the NFL Scouting Combine. There, he caught the eye of the Philadelphia Eagles, who made him their fifth-round draft selection that April.
Bloom practiced with the Eagles as a return specialist, but a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve prior to the start of the 2006 regular season. He remained with the team and appeared in 2007 preseason games, but he was released before the regular season began.
Later that year, Bloom was signed to the Steelers practice squad only to be released late in the 2008 training camp.
Had the Steelers kept him on, Bloom would have a Super Bowl ring to go with all of his other medals.
“I was so close to being part of a Super Bowl-winning team,” said Bloom in an interview with Trib columnist, Tim Benz. “How could that not gnaw on you?!”
Bloom hung up the skis and the cleats in 2009. In 2012, he was named to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Bloom remains the only athlete to ever ski in the Winter Olympics and be drafted into the National Football League.
Tomlin-esque leadership
In 2010, Bloom co-founded marketing software company Integrate, where he is currently CEO. But football still lives within him. Though Bloom has had a lot of coaches in his sports careers, he credits Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin with having the most significant influence. In fact, he attributes his leadership style to Tomlin.
“He had maybe the biggest impact on my life of any coach I’ve ever had,” Bloom said. “I’ve modeled more of my leadership (as a CEO) around Mike Tomlin as I have anyone else.”
“Mike Tomlin believes in what I would describe as radical transparency. Radical candor. He brings a level of leadership to the table that you never wonder where you stand. In a caring way. Not a jerk. He wants you to do well. There was never a day where I didn’t know what I needed to do to make the team. He brings a level of swagger and transparency that is rarely found.”
Post-Olympic pain
Bloom had the talent and athleticism to transition from professional skiing to professional football — not many athletes do.
Many former athletes, U.S. Olympians in this case, deal with tremendous burdens in civilian life. They often find themselves lost and question their existence when the spotlight fades, and there are no more crowds to cheer them on.
When clinical depression follows, former Olympians have found themselves enveloped in darkness and despair — so deep they cannot get free from it.
Bloom was one of the lucky ones.
He did not experience Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’ multiple DUIs, depression and suicidal thoughts, nor the legal troubles of snowboarder Shaun White. He did not take his own life as did skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson and bobsled driver Steven Holcomb.
Instead, Bloom described his own post-Olympic story as one of extreme sadness. “I would not describe it as elevated depression to the point of thoughts of suicide like some of the athletes in the film,” shared Bloom. “It never reached that point. I feel very grateful that I never had thoughts of suicide.”
The poignant and sometimes tragic stories of so many other ex-Olympians is what prompted Bloom to collaborate with film director Brett Rapkin on the HBO Sports documentary “Weight of Gold.”
Narrated by Phelps, the documentary depicts the mental health struggles of multiple Team USA athletes (including Bloom) through personal accounts. The purpose of the film is to inspire discussion about mental health and encourage those struggling to seek help.
As a recent guest on “Breakfast with Benz,” Bloom spoke about his battles with mental health, his Olympic journey, and, of course, the Steelers.
“Weight of Gold” is available on HBO On Demand through Sept. 1.
(Feature image is courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers)
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