Despite missing part of training camp, Simone Biles’ husband’s job with the Chicago Bears is secure.
Safety Jonathan Owens officially made the Bears’ 53-man roster Tuesday afternoon. While it wasn’t a huge surprise, Owens’ training camp may have been different than any other player in the league this summer.
Owens left halfway through camp to watch his wife compete in the Paris Olympics. Biles won three gold medals and a silver medal in France, giving her total of 11 Olympic medals in her career. She is now the most decorated gymnast of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
As the Bears prepared for the season, Owens watched Biles in person, something he had negotiated with the team when he signed his contract. And the Bears were all for it. The team provided him with recordings of meetings, practices and games while he was in Paris. He said they were all incredibly supportive along the way. Many even urged him to bring mementos home with him.
“It’s a big deal that he’s supporting the guy he loves the most,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said before the Olympics. “I think it’s really cool that he gets to do that and we’re excited about it and it’s going to be awesome.”
Owens signed a two-year, $4.75 million contract with the Bears this offseason. He had 84 tackles and a fumble recovery last season with the Green Bay Packers. The 29-year-old made his league debut with the Houston Texans, where he spent four seasons and first met Biles, who works out at a Houston-area gym. The couple first got engaged in 2022 ahead of his final season with the team, which was his first as a true starter in the league.
It’s unclear whether Biles will attempt to compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where she will be 31. But in the meantime, it’s safe to assume Biles will be in the stands for at least a few Bears games this fall.
“I’m just like, ‘How could I be so lucky that this is my wife and I get to see her?’” Owens said of Biles before the Olympics. “Someone who’s literally at the top of her sport, and I get to call her my wife.