Yesterday, we conducted a lengthy interview with former Buffs standout, Olympic skier and 11-time World Cup gold medal winner Jeremy Bloom about his role in the HBO documentary "The Weight of Gold" which examines widespread mental health struggles among Olympic athletes.
You can find that here.
Below, in Part II of our series with Bloom, he reflects on the good memories he has from his Colorado days.
By the time Bloom had arrived at Colorado, he was already an accomplished and decorated international skier, having participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as well as competed and medaled in numerous World Cup events.
It was Bloom's skiing career — and namely the endorsements and sponsorships he accepted and wanted to keep accepting while also continuing his college football career — that set the stage for his showdown with the NCAA.
Ultimately, the NCAA deemed him ineligible to compete as a junior and senior.
Thus, it was interesting to ask Bloom specifically if any potential bitterness he felt towards the NCAA was at all handcuffed to the good times he had at Colorado.
In other words, did the ordeal with the NCAA dilute the positives when it comes to how he views his time in Boulder?
“That’s a good question, but as I reflect back on my days at Colorado, a big smile comes to my face," Bloom said. "No, there’s not even an ounce of bitterness whatsoever — just an amazing amount of humility and gratefulness that I was able to experience the things that I did at the University of Colorado and have the success that I was able to have there.”
If the NCAA had allowed Bloom to remain eligible, who knows where his college football career would have gone. On-paper evidence and his statistics can offer a hint in terms of answering that question, though.
He earned Freshman All-American honors from the Pro Football Writers Association in 2002 and racked up 1,286 all-purpose yards (589 on kick return duty, 356 as a receiver, 289 while returning punts and 52 rushing) as a sophomore in 2003.
Had he returned in 2004, he would have been one of two Buffaloes wide receivers still on the team that had recorded receptions in 2003, while his credentials as CU's go-to return man were also well in order.
Needless to say, all evidence pointed to Bloom being primed and ready to make significant contributions to the 2004 and 2005 Buffaloes.
Still, nearly two decades after the fact, Bloom long ago resolved to let go of his NCAA eligibility-related frustrations while keeping the fond memories of his teammates, coaches and the impact he was able to make as an underclassman close to heart.
“It’s the brotherhood that you develop in locker rooms that you have people that, figuratively speaking, you go to war with," he said. "You work so hard for a goal and you do whatever it takes. That builds a bond that is uncommonly seen in life — certainly tough to duplicate in the professional realm, let alone sports, but definitely in business."
"So, you really smile on those moments — the softer moments in the locker room when you’re laughing with teammates and then the harder moments, when you’re grinding and trying to win a conference championship.”
Colorado fans who watched Bloom live will doubtless recall not only his knack for producing big plays, but doing so in clutch situations.
His 94-yard touchdown reception against Kansas State as a freshman in 2002 was the longest passing play as well as play from scrimmage in Colorado football history until K.D. Nixon's 96-yard flea flicker touchdown reception vs. Nebraska in 2019.
Upon being inserted into the Buffs' 2002 season-opening game against Colorado State in the fourth quarter, Bloom returned a punt 75 yards for a score in his first collegiate action.
Later that season, he returned a punt 80 yards into the end zone against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference Championship.
Point being, Bloom undoubtedly has more than one unforgettable college football experiences on which he can look back and smile.
"The first time I touched the ball as a freshman, I took it back 75 yards for a touchdown against Colorado State," he said. "That’s certainly a memory that was so unexpected because I was a third string punt returner coming into the game and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Gary Barnett let me have the opportunity to return that punt. That was a big inflection point in my athletic career and that led to a lot more playing time as a freshman and then freshman All-American honors."
"The wins come to mind, the lessons that Gary Barnett taught us come to mind (as does) the camaraderie of being part of CU Buff history, which I’m super proud of — there were just a lot of fond memories.”
This past April, the NCAA historically changed course regarding college players' name, image and likeness (NIL), setting the stage for student-athletes in the near future to finally be able to financially benefit from their own NIL — whether that means earning money for autographs, or as Bloom hoped to do nearly two decades ago, from endorsements and sponsorships.
For Bloom, it's been a long time coming.
But in similar fashion to how he views his college football career, the NCAA's decision here in 2020 did not leave him feeling bitter or wondering about his own "what-ifs." Quite the opposite, actually.
Looking down the barrel, Bloom is happy to see that student-athletes of the future will not have to go through the same ordeal as he did.On top of that, he's glad to have been an early trailblazer in the fight for no-brainer student-athletes rights.
“As it relates to the NCAA, I’ve been on this two-decade crusade on name image and likeness and I can’t help but feel really optimistic about where we are," he said. "It was never really only about me. Even back then when I was a freshman, it was about everybody else. It was about anybody in my situation and it was always about principle and what I believed to be right. I always knew that I would be on the right side of history. I knew it would take some time and we’re on the cusp of a transformation with NIL, so I can’t help but be very optimistic.”
Join the discussion on Jeremy Bloom and our two separate interviews with him at Buff Nation, the premiere message board community serving countless CU fanatics.
