Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens considers himself “a gymnastics guy” now, thanks to his wife, one of the most legendary Team USA gymnasts of all-time.
He’s watched Simone Biles in action since the two began dating in 2020. They got married in 2023.
As an athlete himself, Owens, 28, knows the importance of confidence and calm on competition day. Speaking to Us Weekly exclusively, he shared what he tells Biles, 27, before she sets out to compete.
“Really it is not much motivation you need to do, just because you don’t want to put extra, added pressure on anyone,” Owens said. “I just tell her, ‘go do your thing, baby.’…As long as she’s there, she’s on the field, give her a kiss and we can go about our way.”
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That encouragement goes both ways. Owens says Biles is a key factor in his athletic success.
“You get a different type of focus whenever you just have this one person that you’re focusing on,” he explained. “And I ain’t saying there’s something wrong with being single, but for me, knowing myself, I’ve played a lot better since [meeting Biles], I’ve just been focused and locked in, and you come home, talk about my day and play with the dogs, you know what I mean? That’s just kind of like our thing.”
He spoke with Us as part of his partnership with GoodSport, a naturally powered sports drink that Owens began using himself in training camp in 2023.
When Owens began to see results in his performance, he was proactive, reaching out to the brand himself to ask about a partnership
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“Our partnership started so organically,” Owens said. “This is really what I’m interested in and I could really feel a difference in my performance. And I really felt replenished and hydrated. So me and my manager, we decided to reach out and we shot GoodSport an Instagram DM just saying, ‘Hey, what’s up? Really interested in the product. We’d love to do something if we could.’ And they hit us right back and the relationship just flourished from there.”
For now, Owens is working through his offseason with NFL training camp starting later this month, right around the time the Olympics kick off. It’s a busy time for both, but Owens isn’t worried about looking weeks down the line.
“I’m a big believer in being where your feet are,” he said. “You get to looking ahead [or] forward to being done or whatever it is…you might take for granted the moment that you’re in.”