In the big picture, former Pittsburgh Steeler Jeremy Bloom led a charmed life. Hometown college football star. NFL player. He even made the Olympics as a freestyle skier.

Twice.

But he also knows the emotional pain of coming so close to your lifelong goals and coming up just short.

The receiver/return specialist was cut from the Steelers late in training camp of 2008. So he had to watch on television as his former team marched to a Super Bowl trophy six months later.

“I was so close to being part of a Super Bowl winning team,” Bloom exclaimed with a laugh. “How could that not gnaw on you?!”

And despite three World Championships and 11 World Cup gold medals, Bloom didn’t medal in either the 2002 or 2006 Olympic games.

Six days after the 2006 games in Italy, Bloom was at the NFL Scouting Combine. By April, he was a fifth-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles.

For some Olympic athletes in their mid-20s or early 30s, their dreams are done after two shots at the games. If they are that lucky. And they don’t have the option of turning to an NFL career.

Because of that ability, Bloom was able to handle that Olympic disappointment much better than some U.S. Olympians have.

Sometimes, those who are heralded as heroes in America for international athletic accomplishment find themselves coming home with little cash and even less direction once the anthems stop.

What many of them do have is depression. And idle time. And questions about the future. And debt.

For some, even if they win.

And if they lose, it can be soul crushing. To the point that, in recent years, a few former Olympic medalists have either considered — or committed — suicide.

The problem of ex-Olympian mental health has gotten to the point where Bloom decided to partner up with film director Brett Rapkin to produce a documentary titled “Weight of Gold,” which was recently released on HBO.

It chronicles the careers of multiple Team USA athletes and how their mental health has suffered dramatically in the wake of retirement or Olympic shortcomings.

Michael Phelps narrates the piece. He’s had multiple DUIs since his fabled Olympic swimming career ended. Phelps also has admitted to dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Famed snowboarder Shaun White had legal trouble in recent years and tells similar stories in the film. Hurdler Lolo Jones gets into great detail about how hard it was to balance the books funding her own training and the depression that followed her after failing to medal in 2008 and 2012.

“I would describe it as extreme sadness,” Bloom said of his own Olympic results. “I would not describe it as elevated depression to the point of thoughts of suicide like some of the athletes in the film. It never reached that point. I feel very grateful that I never had thoughts of suicide.”

AP Jeremy Bloom competes at the U.S. Olympic Freestyle Moguls team trials Dec. 30, 2005, in Steamboat, Colo.  

But the most gripping tales are about aerial skiing specialist Jeret “Speedy” Peterson and bobsled driver Steven Holcomb. Both of them earned Olympic medals. Both of them ended up taking their own lives.

Peterson via self-inflicted gunshot, Holcomb as a result of an apparent overdose of alcohol and pills.

Some have wondered if concussions are a factor in the deaths of some of these athletes. Others wonder if a reliance on painkillers or other self-medicating substance comes into play. Or a failure to diagnose warning signs early in the development of athletes.

“I think we are dealing with a stew of lots of ingredients,” Bloom said. “And maybe one of those ingredients are concussions in that stew. But I don’t think it is binary where it is ‘this’ or ‘that.’ I think it is a combination of a lot (of factors).”

In the film, former figure skater Gracie Gold tells the tale of how she didn’t know if — or where — she should turn for mental support from U.S. Olympic officials. But the slightest physical tweak she may have endured brought a flock of medical experts.

“She said, ‘If I twisted an ankle, I’d have 10 of the best orthopedic surgeons in the country fixing my ankle. But if I’m fighting demons in my head, I don’t have any resources,’” Bloom said. “That’s really spot on.”

The documentary goes in depth on all of those topics, as Bloom and I do for Wednesday’s podcast.

We even get into whether or not some of these factors played a role in his sister’s whirlwind life after skiing. Molly Bloom is the author of the book “Molly’s Game.” It was also turned into a movie starring Jessica Chastain, portraying how Molly Bloom was arrested in 2013 for running one of America’s largest underground poker rings.

We talk at length about Bloom’s football career in Pittsburgh and why he preferred it to his time in Philadelphia. Bloom also reveals how he’s maintained a friendship with Troy Polamalu, the success of a nonprofit he began in Pittsburgh (Wish of a Lifetime Foundation), and his reverence for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

Bloom is now the CEO of Integrate, a marketing software company with offices in five U.S. cities. And he credits Tomlin for being the most influential coach in his life.

“He had maybe the biggest impact on my life of any coach I’ve ever had,” Bloom said. “I’ve modeled more of my leadership (as a CEO) around Mike Tomlin as I have anyone else.

“Mike Tomlin believes in what I would describe as radical transparency. Radical candor. He brings a level of leadership to the table that you never wonder where you stand. In a caring way. Not a jerk. He wants you to do well. There was never a day where I didn’t know what I needed to do to make the team. He brings a level of swagger and transparency that is rarely found.”

You can hear the entire podcast below.

LISTEN: Tim Benz talks with Jeremy Bloom about mental health issues that can affect athletes

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