His dream of playing in the NFL apparently not meant to be, two-time World Cup moguls champion Jeremy Bloom has returned to the U.S. Ski Team in hopes of making his third Olympic team.
A star kick returner for the University of Colorado, Bloom decided to concentrate on football after finishing sixth at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He was drafted in the fifth round that year by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bloom tore a hamstring in training camp and spent the 2006 season on injured reserve. The Eagles cut him after training camp in 2007, and he signed with Pittsburgh last January. Pittsburgh cut him Aug. 25.
“It was a much harder decision than I anticipated when I got released by the Steelers,” Bloom said of returning to skiing after a two-year hiatus. “I knew I didn’t want to sit on another practice squad, and I had other projects I was working on. I didn’t want to go back to skiing just because it was the path of least resistance, or because it was the most familiar to me. I really spent a great deal of time trying to evaluate where my heart was and exactly what it was I wanted to do in the future.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
