Jeremy Bloom is a two-time Winter Olympian and three-time world champion in freestyle skiing. He's also a one-time NFL draft pick by the now reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Bloom's past athletic worlds converged in St. Paul, Minn., last week when he joined three gold medalists — bobsledder Vonetta Flowers and ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White — in headlining Team USA WinterFest to help promote the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang — on the eve of the Eagles beating the Patriots in Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis.
"I'm not used to being at a Super Bowl where it's actually snowing," Bloom told Sporting News. "So I love it. My former teammates hate it — they like to be in the sun — but I think it's great."
Bloom admitted his rooting interest in the Super Bowl wasn't easy, despite his past. He has a long-standing appreciation for the Eagles after they gave him his first shot in professional football as a fifth-rounder in 2006. Then again, Bloom is friends with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and considers him to be a big competitive inspiration.
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In the end, with the Eagles winning, Bloom knows just how much it means to the city of Philadelphia.
"You're looking at the most passionate fan base, maybe anywhere." Bloom said. "We know soccer globally is pretty big, but here in the United States, Eagles fans are nuts. I mean that in a complimentary way. They deserve it. It's amazing with such a storied franchise, they had never won the Super Bowl (before)."
Now that Super Bowl 52 is in the books, Bloom can't wait to see what happens at the Winter Olympics.
"This is the first year I haven't competed in them or worked for NBC," Bloom said. "I look forward to see what it looks like from a TV perspective, to sit back and cheer for all my buddies and friends that will over there.
"There's nothing like the Olympics. Growing up, my biggest goal in life was to be an Olympian. I come from a family of Olympic historians. It's always an honor to wear this Olympic shield and be part of the Olympic family."
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At the 2012 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Team USA finished second with 28 total medals and fourth with nine golds. Bloom has high expectations for the United States exceeding that production.
"The target is always to win the most gold medals out of any other country," he said. "There's a lot of good countries. The Scandanavian countries are really tough. There's a lot of great competitors in Canada and Germany. It's going to be a fight."
Regardless of which country finishes first in the medal count, Bloom already can see how the 2018 Games stand out as special.
"The IOC and the USOC, they always talk about how the Olympics brings worlds together," Bloom said. "It transcends politics. Just to see what's going on with North and South Korea coming together in a really unexpected way shows you the power of the Olympic movement."
Bloom hopes the dark side of Winter Olympics — the doping scandal involving athletes from host Russia in '14 — won't mar the celebration of the world's best in Pyeongchang.
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"Doping always has an impact on the sports, first and foremost to the athletes," Bloom said. "When you get fourth place at the Olympics, and you find out that third, second or first was doping, it's not the same to get the medal in the mail. You missed out on your opportunity to stand on that podium.
"I know Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), and their (process) is a real one, a scientific one. I know they're doing everything they can to keep the sports clean."
Before the Pyeongchang Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected banned Russian athletes' appeal to participate in the games Bloom is totally behind CAS' decision.
"I understand the reaction to ban Russia completely, but you also need to look at it from the clean athletes' perspective in Russia, where there certainly are some," Bloom said. "I think it was the right decision. They can't compete for Russia, they can compete under the IOC flag, which is the right thing to do. But at least you're not robbing clean athletes who didn't make any mistakes the opportunity to be an Olympian."
The biggest-name athlete on Team USA in '18 is once again alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn, who will be competing in Pyeongchang at age 33 after being forced to miss Sochi with a right knee injury. Bloom, 35, is never amazed at what his former teammate continues to do.
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"What a career. To remain as dominant as she has over such a long period of time is really difficult. She's done a tremendous job doing that." Bloom said. "She elevated the sport of alpine skiing the way that Bode Miller has done and now Mikaela Shiffrin is doing."
"I'm proud of Lindsey. It's funny that she couldn't even commit to this being her last Olympics. I'm like c'mon, how much more do you have in the tank? Just to think four years ago, she was watching the Olympics from her couch. I know that fire she has inside of her is burning strong because of not being able to compete. She'll be ready."
Before the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, Bloom also had a new experience — watching some of his own life in the big screen in "Molly's Game," the Golden Globe-nominated biopic with Jessica Chastain playing his sister in the titular role and Kevin Costner playing his father.
"When I sat down to watch the movie for the first time at the Zurich film premiere, I didn't know what to expect. It is a surreal experience to watch a movie about your family, certainly your sister," Bloom said. "At the end of the movie, I couldn't move, I couldn't get up. It was such an emotional experience to see it all play out. Aaron Sorkin did a wonderful job displaying the character of my sister. She's an incredible human being and I'm proud of the success she's had."
Even without doing broadcast work for the Olympics this time, Bloom remains extremely busy as a highly successful entrepreneur. He also continues to go strong with a charity he started to honor his grandmother, Donna Wheeler, 10 years ago. Now called Jeremy Bloom Wish of a Lifetime Foundation, it's a nonprofit that helps seniors realize their lifelong dreams.
"I love Wish of a Lifetime so much," Bloom said. "We get to hang out with 80-, 90- and 100-year-old and make their wish come true. How cool is that? That's the job I want. We are granting more than one wish a day now, changing a lot of lives and meeting a lot of really interesting and inspiring people."
