Cashing Out

The good life beckoned to Jeremy Bloom from Chile, where his U.S. Ski Team buddies spent the month of August carving up Andean snow and grilled South American bistec. It called to him from Beverly Hills, where Tommy Hilfiger had contracted the 20-year-old to frolic with supermodels as part of a print-ad campaign. Gifted with a skiing ability that earned him ninth place in the Olympic moguls event in Salt Lake City last February and a soap-star smolder that has attracted a female following usually reserved for boy bands, Bloom could be leading a life that exists primarily in Skyy Vodka ads. If only he weren't so good at catching footballs.

Bloom, who has won both a World Cup moguls title and a Colorado high school state football championship over the past two years, has shelved a perk-laden ski career to compete as a freshman wide receiver at Colorado. Although the U.S. ski staff and Buffaloes coach Gary Barnett had given Bloom their blessing to devote the fall to football and the spring to skiing, a one-size-fits-all NCAA bylaw prevents him from accepting sponsorship money. The rule was upheld on Aug. 19 by an apologetic district court judge who denied Bloom's request for an injunction but chastised the NCAA for its inflexibility.

The problem? Skiers, who earn little prize money, rely on endorsements to finance the high costs of travel and training (up to $100,000 a year) that come with elite-level competition. So unlike the Division I football players who play minor league baseball during the summer—the NCAA deems second-sport salaries an acceptable source of earnings for scholarship athletes—Bloom must give up a six-figure endorsement income by cutting ties with Oakley, Under Armour and others. He'll now be hard-pressed to fund his 2003 World Cup campaign. "Corporate sponsors can be fickle," says agent Andy Carroll, who represents Bloom the skier. "If Jeremy wants to start competing again, it's going to be tough for him to pick up where he left off."

No one would have faulted Bloom for dusting off his Dynastars and heading for the hills after losing his battle with the NCAA. Instead he stayed put in the cramped Colorado dorm room he has shared with a 230-pound linebacker since the beginning of August and traded the jet-set lifestyle for two-a-day practices, powder-covered bumps for Frisbee-sized bruises. During the final week of preseason practices in August, a few teammates couldn't help but shake their heads when catching his eye. "I keep hearing, 'Man, you're crazy to give up all that money!' " says Bloom. "But long before I started skiing, it was my dream to play college football." An honor roll student who had 1,116 receiving yards as a senior at Loveland ( Colo.) High, Bloom is also intent on earning a bachelor's degree.

Judging from the rave reviews coming out of the Colorado football offices, Bloom's decision was hardly a flight of fancy. His work ethic and self-deprecating manner endeared him to those players who half expected a preening pretty boy to show up to summer workouts, and by the team's first game against Colorado State on Aug. 31, Bloom had elevated himself to the team's No. 4 receiver and its top punt returner. In the opener, Bloom returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown. Against San Diego State the following week he returned two punts for 36 total yards but suffered a broken toe that kept him out of last Saturday's match against USC. "He has body control you don't see in first-year players, which must come from the precise kind of skiing he does," says receivers coach Jon Embree. "And for a guy who's barely 5'9", 170 pounds, he can take a hit."

Although his small stature will likely prevent him from one day attaining the same kind of pro stardom in football that he found in skiing, Bloom is contented by the support he's gotten in Boulder and beyond. "E-mails, like one I received from a mom in Iowa who said I was a role model for her kids, have helped me feel good about the choices I've made," says Bloom, who's looking into alternative ways to finance a 2006 Olympic run. "It's when the snow starts coming down that I might start second-guessing myself."