Simone Biles is back at the Olympics.
And, with her highly anticipated return to the Summer Games, Biles — one of the most decorated Olympians in the world — will look to have a strong showing in front of friends and family in attendance in Paris as she looks to add further to her already impressive Olympics resume.
That will include husband and former Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens.
Reactions:Jonathan Owens and others on social media in awe over Simone Biles, Team USA gymnastics Olympic performance
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"No words can describe how proud of you I am baby," Owens wrote on Instagram on July 1. "I’m so thankful to be apart of this journey with you, and (I can't) wait to be able to watch you out there in Paris. ... Just sounds so surreal being able to say my wife is the best to EVER do it, how did (I) get so lucky. I love you so much."
With that, here's what you need to know on Biles' husband and more leading into the 2024 Paris Olympics:
Who is Simone Biles' husband?
Biles' husband is Owens, an NFL player since 2018 who currently plays for the Chicago Bears.
The 29-year-old Owens, who hails from St. Louis, played collegiately at Missouri Western State, where as a senior in 2017 he earned All-MIAA second-team honors. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent after the 2018 NFL draft, but missed the 2018 season after tearing his ACL.
Jonathan Owens NFL team
After being waived from the Cardinals prior to the 2019 NFL season, Owens signed with the Houston Texans practice squad in September 2019. He spent four seasons in Houston alternating between the franchise's active roster and practice squad before becoming a full-time starter on the Texans' defense in 2022.
Owens spent last season with the Green Bay Packers, where he started 11 of 17 games in the secondary. In Green Bay, he racked up 76 tackles (53 solo), one sack and three defended passes. He also had one forced fumble and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.
He is entering his first season with the Bears after signing a two-year, $4.75 million contract this past offseason.
As reported by USA TODAY Sports' Nancy Armour, the Bears granted time off during training camp for Owens to go to Paris to watch and support Biles as she makes her highly anticipated return to the Olympics after withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Bears are scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday in Canton, Ohio — the same day Biles is projected to win her fifth gold career medal that day in the women's all-around final in Paris.
"The Bears are actually granting him a couple days off from training camp, so he'll be there, yes," Biles said at the U.S. Gymnastics Trials in Minneapolis in late June. "For just a short little time."
She added: "Anytime we can show up for one another in support, we just get super excited because our schedules don't align that much. So whenever it does, it's really important for the both of us to show up in support."
REQUIRED READING:Simone Biles thought 'world is going to hate me' after she left team final at Tokyo Games
When did Simone Biles get married?
Biles and Owens were married on April 22, 2023 in a courtroom ceremony. They later shared video of a destination wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in May 2023.
The two met on the dating app Raya in 2020 and got engaged in February of 2022.
"We had to get married ‘legally’ here in the U.S. since our wedding will be a destination wedding,” Biles told Vogue.
REQUIRED READING:Why Simone Biles is 'close to unstoppable' as she keeps getting better with age
Simone Biles husband interview controversy, explained
Comments Owens made on "The Pivot" podcast on Dec. 19, 2023 caused a stir in social media circles, including when he told host Ryan Clark that he didn't know who Biles was when they matched on Raya.
“She pops up and I’m like, ‘Let me see who this is,'" Owens said. "I had never really paid attention to gymnastics, so it piqued my curiosity.
“I just hadn’t heard of her, and when I told her that, that’s one of the things she liked,” he said.
Clark later teased Owens, asking him whether he thought he was the catch when he and Biles matched. Responded Owens:
“I always say the men are the catch,” Owens responded.
Those two comments created notable backlash online against Owens. For her part, Biles seemingly defended her husband from the backlash he was receiving, as she posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Dec. 23, 2023:
Owens told US Magazine that he was initially unaware that he was being criticized on social media.
“I don’t mean to cuss, but like, damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” he told US Weekly on July 8. “If you say something, they’re going to say something; if you don’t say something, they’re going to say something. So, just live your life. People are going to talk about you anyway, so you might as well do it the way you want to.
“I have all my social media notifications off, so I didn’t even know for a while,” he said. “I was actually with my mom and Simone whenever it came out, so, all the comments and everything, I just let them read it. I try to stay off of it, and obviously if you feel like stuff is kind of getting out of hand, that’s when you reach in and say something.”
Jonathan Owens stats
Owens started 11 of 17 games in 2023 for the Packers. His best game of the season came on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions, against whom he finished with 12 total tackles and one tackle for a loss while returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Here's a full breakdown of Owens' stats in the NFL with the Texans and Packers per his NFL.com page:
- 2023 (Packers): 17 games played (11 starts), 76 tackles, one sack, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery returned for touchdown
- 2022 (Texans): 17 games started, 111 tackles, one sack, four passes defensed
- 2021 (Texans): Seven games played (two starts), 17 tackles, one pass defensed, one interception, one fumble recovery
- 2020 (Texans): Six games played, one kick return for 26 yards
- 2019 (Texans): One game played
