Relax, Steelers fans. I know where you can find the next Antwaan Randle El to return punts, and all that's required is patience. The NFL Draft is only a week and a half away.
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| Jeremy Bloom averages a tasty 19.1 yards per catch as a Colorado receiver. (Getty Images) |
Yes, that Jeremy Bloom, and he might just be the man to soothe Pittsburgh's separation anxiety over Randle El.
OK, so he didn't quarterback his college football team, and I haven't seen him throw an option pass. But he plays wide receiver, runs like an Acela and is a big-play threat.
Oh, yeah, he's also a world-class freestyle skier, last seen in the 2006 Olympics, but skiing is not Bloom's interest now. Football is, and the proof was an impressive workout in front of 31 teams earlier this month when Bloom demonstrated he can do more than return punts and kickoffs.
He caught short passes. He caught deep passes. Slants. Outs. Goes.
Then he shagged punts. He caught passes with two hands. With one hand. On the run. After a complete turn.
He also benched 225 pounds 19 times.
It was an impressive and necessary performance for Bloom, who has two objectives before the arrival of the April 29 draft: 1) To demonstrate that two years away from football hasn't hurt him, and 2) to reiterate that football, not skiing, is his career now.
| 2006 Draft Features | |
|---|---|
| Mocks: | Prisco | Judge | Dodd |
| Rankings: | Prisco | Judge | GM Junior |
| Previews: | WR | TE | ST | QB | CB |
| Coverage: | Draft Tracker |
OK, there's a third motive, too, but anyone who was there for Bloom's workout got the message: He must prove he's not a risk.
"I'm a playmaker," said Bloom. "I have God-given gift of speed and a hard work ethic to go along with it. I know the type of player I am, and I'm the type who can change a game."
I like it. And maybe so will the Steelers. Bloom visited with them this week, just after he sat down with the Denver Broncos.
Bloom is, in all likelihood, a second-day draft pick for a variety of reasons -- his two-year hiatus from the game, forced by NCAA sanctions, just the beginning. But some club -- and probably one choosing at the end of a round -- will take him, and with him it gains an intriguing athlete with a world of ability.
