Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens (Instagram)
He was an unrated recruit coming out of high school, played Division II football at Missouri Western, and went undrafted in 2018. Owens met Biles during the COVID-19 pandemic after the two connected on a dating app.
“I didn’t have my notifications on,” Owens recalled, explaining that Biles eventually asked him whether he had seen what was happening on Instagram. He said the criticism was difficult initially, describing how it almost made him feel like “a shell of yourself” before he learned to accept that people would talk regardless. “I take it as respect,” he said. Says a lot about me as well,” Owens said.
Jonathan Owens has spent years building an NFL career that few could have predicted when he entered the league as an undrafted free agent. But as his football journey has developed, another part of his life has often taken center stage: his marriage to Simone Biles . The Indianapolis Colts safety is now a nine-year NFL veteran, but being married to one of the most recognizable athletes in the world has brought a level of attention that Owens never experienced early in his career. That experience gave Owens an early introduction to what it meant to have his personal life examined by millions of people. “You see who my wife is. Owens’ journey to the NFL was anything but straightforward. His first NFL season with the Arizona Cardinals ended on injured reserve after he suffered another ACL injury. Their relationship eventually led to marriage, and suddenly the safety who had fought simply to stay in the NFL was being recognized everywhere as the husband of the gymnastics superstar. The contrast between Owens’ early NFL life and his current world is striking. There was a time when he was taking Ubers to rehabilitation sessions, using crutches to get groceries and worrying about how to afford a car.
