It is pretty tricky for stars of the NBA, NFL, and the NHL to get out there on the slopes because they are beholden to strict insurance policies, many of which do not allow for them to undertake snow sports such as downhill skiing or snowboarding.
Were they to get injured out on the mountain they would likely miss huge swathes of a training camp or regular season, thus potentially costing their franchise.
All this means that lots of sports stars must wait until their career is over to give snow sports a try or in some cases have special clauses added to their contracts so they can head up the hill without fear of being fired.
Here we detail some of the big names from basketball to American football who just cannot get enough of snow sports.
Alvin Kamara
As running backs in the NFL go, Alvin Kamara is one of the most feared by defensive lines across the land and has not looked back since being honored as the NFL offensive rookie of the year in 2017. He has spent his entire professional career appearing in the odds lines as a New Orleans Saint, but his favorite home away from home is Montana, where he discovered the joys of snowboarding. So proud was he of his newfound snowboarding skills that he even declared on social media that it’s only a matter of time before he appears in the X-Games betting odds alongside those NFL ones at the FanDuel sportsbook. While his comments on Instagram were very much tongue in cheek, he obviously plans to return to his mountain hideaway, having purchased a property in Montana. Saints fans will be hoping that his snowboarding exploits in some way help him defy the NFL odds when the new season begins.
Paul Pierce
Pierce retired from the NBA all the way back in 2017 and has since been enjoying himself. Part of his retirement plan has been a willingness to get out there and try new things, one of which was skiing.
There are some truly hilarious clips of the 2008 NBA Champion and Championship MVP getting to grips with his two planks, and in truth he appeared infinitely more comfortable on a snowmobile.
Jeremy Bloom
While neither Pierce nor Kamara are anywhere near being Olympic standard when it comes to snow sports, there is one former NFL player who was even better on skis than he was at throwing, kicking, or catching a football.
That man was Jeremy Bloom, who having competed in the Winter Olympics for Team USA, then went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Starting out as a wide receiver, he was also employed as a return specialist. While his career never truly hit the heights in the NFL, he can still claim to be the only man to have ever competed as a professional skier and as a fully-fledged NFL pro.
P.K. Subban
For a while they were one of the hottest couples in all of sport, but unfortunately the NHL’s P.K. Subban and skiing’s Lindsey Vonn brought their relationship to a close. It is unclear whether Vonn taught Subban a thing or two about how to carve his way through the gates or if he gave her some skating tips in return, but in the end the fact that their two sports were so closely aligned did not help them stick together.
J.R. Smith
Smith’s NBA career spanned from 2004 all the way through to 2020, when he finally hung up his sneakers and called time on a run in the league that saw him perform for several franchises.
Being made a free agent in 2020, he wasted no time in giving snowboarding a go, although he found it hard to find appropriate gear that would fit his giant 6ft 6in frame.