As if playing lacrosse at Dartmouth wasn’t enough, Sachem North alum Evan Bloom tacked on Marine Officer Cadet School last year. But he wasn’t quite satisfied; he was missing something.
That something turned out to be football. It’s been over three years since he suited up for the Flaming Arrows at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium, but last Sunday Bloom was on the gridiron again in pads.
“Walking on to the football team was something I wanted to do since the summer leading into freshman year,” said Bloom, who played for Darmouth’s JV team in his college debut. “When you’re thirty years old, you can still play in competitive lacrosse leagues. Football is different; college would be my last chance to play in a game that mattered.”
Bloom said he was advised that it would be best to wait until his sophomore year to attempt playing college football.
“Adjusting to Ivy academics and D1 lacrosse would be more than enough to keep me busy,” he said.
Because he attended Officer Candidate School last summer, football was not really an option until junior year.
“Marine Corps shape and college football shape are totally different animals,” said Bloom, who started at cornerback at Sachem and was a running back behind the likes of Anthony Quezada and Davon Lawrence.
The lacrosse coaches at Dartmouth have supported his quest to play two sports. Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth’s head football coach, took interest in Bloom and agreed to let him try out this fall. Everything has worked out.
Last Sunday’s game was the first full contact Bloom has had since high school on the football field.
“All the guys and coaches on the team have been absolutely awesome, welcoming me into the family and helping me along the way as I slowly pick up on the terminology and schemes,” he said. ” I felt pretty good on Sunday; I’m confident I can hang with these guys physically and athletically. I just need to work on internalizing all the things we do schematically here – and there are a lot of things – so I can play fast and loose.”
Bloom recorded a team-high 11 tackles in his Dartmouth football debut. Not bad for a few years away from the field.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro / Photos courtesy Bloom Family