Another return possible for skier Jeremy Bloom

Cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers this summer, the two-time Olympian announced plans Monday to start working out with the U.S. ski team, the first step toward possibly reviving his freestyle skiing career in time for the Vancouver Games.

This week, he'll attend the team's annual fall camp to evaluate how he feels.

"I'm open to wherever that decision may take me," Bloom said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The 26-year-old Bloom traveled to Switzerland last month, where he was on snow for the first time since ending his skiing career after the Turin Olympics. He said things felt pretty good, and it made him decide to reconnect with the U.S. team.

"There are some questions to be answered, for sure," he said. "I haven't said this is a full-blown, 2010 comeback, but it could very well lead to that. That's a question to be answered in a little bit of time."

Bloom needs to fulfill a number of requirements--including getting back into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency testing pool--before he can become an official member of the U.S. team. But he is working out the details, and until then, is welcome to work out with the team.

"Clearly, he's a phenomenal athlete," U.S. freestyle coach Jeff Wintersteen said. "Since my job hinges on how many medals we win, the more guys like that you stack on a team, the better."

Bloom's career has followed anything but a direct path, so his switch from football back to skiing shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

He was a star receiver and kick returner at Colorado when the NCAA ruled he had to give up football because his ski endorsements violated rules against athletes accepting outside money. Bloom fought that decision but eventually had to make a choice. He chose to stick with skiing, his first love, through the 2006 Olympics.