Jeremy Bloom


Jeremy Bloom is an American professional skier. He is a three-time world champion, two-time Olympian, and 11-time World Cup gold medalist. He became the youngest freestyle skier in history to be inducted into the United States Skiing Hall of Fame in 2013. He won a record six straight World Cup events, the most in a single season in the sport's history until Mikael Kingsbury won seven straight events in a single season, twice, and 13 straight events over two seasons.
As a football player, Bloom was an All-American at the University of Colorado Boulder and appeared on the practice squad for both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Personal life

Bloom was born in Loveland, Colorado, the son of Charlene, a ski and fly fishing instructor, and Larry Bloom, a clinical psychologist. His older sister, Molly Bloom, ran an underground poker ring and is played by Jessica Chastain in the film Molly's Game, with Kevin Costner playing their father. His cousin is ice hockey player Colby Cohen. Bloom's father is Jewish, whereas his mother is Christian.
Bloom helped lead both his football and track teams to state championships. In his freshman year, Bloom played quarterback and defensive back. He switched to receiver in his sophomore year and played on the junior varsity football team. He accepted a full scholarship to play college football at the University of Colorado Boulder. As a track athlete, Bloom helped lead his high school track team to back-to-back Class 5A state championship titles his junior and senior year. He competed in the 100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 m and 4x400 meter.

Skiing career

Bloom grew up skiing in Keystone, Colorado. At 14 Bloom was a National Champion, at 15 he became the youngest male freestyle skier to ever make The United States Ski Team, and by 19 he was a World Champion. One month after he was named to the 1st Team Freshman All-American list for college football, he won the World Championship Dual's Gold Medal at the 2003 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Deer Valley, Utah. In 2005, he became the first freestyle skier to win six straight races in a single season. He ended 2005 as the top-ranked freestyle skier in the world and number one in moguls for the second time. For the 2002 Olympics Bloom finished 9th and placed 6th in the 2006 Olympics. After the 2006 Olympics, Bloom focused his attention solely on football.
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. On December 16, 2008, Bloom was added to the 39 man roster of the U.S. Ski Team.

College football career

Bloom was a wide receiver and punt returner for the University of Colorado Boulder football team. As a freshman, he was selected to the first-team Freshman All-America list by collegefootballnews.com and 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 still stand: All-Time Longest Passing Play, Longest Scoring Play from Scrimmage, Longest Gain on a First Career Reception, Longest Gain by a Freshman.
Bloom also holds the Colorado team record for most combined return yards in a single game, set against Baylor University in Waco, Texas on October 4, 2003.
After a long fought battle with the NCAA to keep his skiing hopes alive for the 2006 Winter Olympics the NCAA declared him permanently ineligible, cutting short his college football career by two years. Two days after competing in the 2006 Turin Olympics Bloom flew to Indianapolis to compete in the NFL Scouting Combine.

Professional football career

Philadelphia Eagles

On April 30, 2006, Bloom was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He was featured in the NFL's 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 during training camp. The injury caused the Eagles to place Bloom on injured reserve, but he 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 Pittsburgh Steelers in preparation for the 2008 AFC playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He began 2008 training camp with the Steelers. He was released by the Steelers on August 25, 2008.

Philanthropy

In the spring of 2008, Bloom launched The Donna Wheeler Foundation. Based in Colorado, the foundation was originally named in honor of his 82-year-old grandmother. The name was later changed to the Jeremy Bloom Wish of a Lifetime Foundation "to establish a solid brand identity." The non-profit, 501 foundation's mission is to help low income seniors experience their lifelong wishes.

Other ventures

Leading up to the 2006 NFL draft, Bloom, along with fellow rookies Vernon Davis and A. J. Hawk, appeared in ads for Under Armour's new line of football cleats, with the slogan "Click Clack." He was also the feature in an ABC Olympic commercial and 80-hour fitness commercial.
Bloom has modeled with Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, GQ Magazine and Cosmopolitan magazine. He was a frequent guest host on Video Stew on Palladia and was a VJ for the channel. He has appeared on magazine covers for Cargo, Outside, Sports Illustrated on Campus, Hooked on the Outdoors, and Mile High Sports.
In March 2003, Bloom won the 30th annual CBS Superstars Competition in Jamaica; he defeated nine professional athletes that included Dexter Jackson, Ahman Green, Will Allen and Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward. He ran a dash in 9.41 seconds,.01 off the events record set by Joey Galloway. He donated his $45,000 prize money to help build youth football fields in his hometown of Loveland, Colorado.
After football practice with the Philadelphia Eagles, he interned for well-known professor and economist Peter Linneman.
In Warren Miller's 55th ski movie Higher Ground, Bloom narrated almost the entire movie with Warren only contributing a few lines.
In 2012, Bloom participated in the dating game show The Choice.
In April 2010, Bloom founded the marketing software company Integrate. The company has raised over $42 million of venture capital from Comcast, Foundry Group and Liberty Global. Integrate was named as the "Best New Company" at the American Business Awards in New York City. Forbes Magazine called Bloom one of the 30 most influential people in technology under the age of 30.
In 2013, Bloom was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Integrate has offices in Denver, Colorado, Scottsdale, Arizona, New York City, San Francisco and Boston.
Bloom is a college football and Olympic sports television analyst and has worked for ESPN, Fox, NBC and The Pac-12 Network.
In January 2008, Bloom founded the organization Wish of a Lifetime, whose mission is to shift the way society views and values our oldest generations by fulfilling seniors' dreams and sharing their stories to inspire those of all ages. Wish of a Lifetime was founded in honor of Jeremy's grandmother and based on the premise that our oldest generations should be respected, honored and aided in our society. . The non-profit has granted over 2,000 wishes in all 50 states.

World Cup Skiing results

In Bloom’s four years of competing on the World Cup Tour, he won 11 Gold Medals and earned 26 World Cup Podiums.