Buffalo Bloom skis into Philly

By Os Davis  |   Tuesday, July 11, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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Talk about your two-sport stars: The signings continued in silver-and-green land as the Philadelphia Eagles chased the Monday signing of fourth-round draft pick Max Jean-Gilles with yesterday's deal for special teamer/skier Jeremy Bloom.

Though Bloom showed scads of untapped potential while with the University of Colorado Buffaloes, he hasn't actually been on the gridiron since 2003. In that year, the sophomore receiver's last full season with the Buffs, Bloom accrued 22 carries for 356 yards including a TD run of 81 yards. In fact, Bloom became known as something of a playmaker on offense and special teams, scoring five times in 25 college appearances, all on plays of 75 yards or more.

Unfortunately, after an unsuccessful bid with the US Olympic freestyle skiing team in 2002, Bloom met with a bit of legal trouble. Though unlike the typical bad-news headline story of today involving guns and drugs, Bloom's conflict with the NCAA over endorsement money received for his skiing career still lost him football eligibility for his remaining two years at Colorado.

No matter. Bloom and his clever handlers parlayed a dismal Olympic finish into high visibility thanks to the skier's all-American good looks. Bloom may have been the only player in the entire NFL draft more well-known to the MTV crowd than loyal ESPN viewers; the young man often graces gossip magazines with his current squeeze, Cameran Eubanks of The Real World: San Diego.

Back in the wide world of sports, Bloom was named to the 2006 Olympic team and again the medal bid was to no avail, prompting one NBC wag to comment that "maybe football is his game after all."

Well, maybe it is. Someone in the Eagles organization was willing to look past the size (Bloom is just 5'9"), potential rustiness and a slight hamstring injury to have Bloom drafted in the fifth round. He was signed yesterday to a four-year incentive-laden contract and is expected to contribute mostly as a punt returner.

At best, Bloom is a gamble, but one with potentially high payoff in terms of skill (love that big-play ability!) and photogenics. The Eagles just have to hope that for Bloom, it's not all downhill from here.

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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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