Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens learned a thing or two about being a star athlete from his gymnastics champion wife, Simone Biles, this season.
After the couple got married in April, Owens signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Green Bay Packers. He’s never gotten the chance to play in the playoffs until this season, as he’s taken over as a starter on Green Bay’s defense as they continue their campaign to the Super Bowl.
His wife’s criticism of his past performance has played a crucial role in his career year.
Prior to the season, while Owens was watching film of his play, Biles joined in and said her husband looked “slow” on the field, Owens told Tyler Dunne of Go Long TD.
“It messed me up because it’s like: ‘My lady is telling me this, so do I really need to…’ but she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to mental health,” Owens says. “When she said that, it kind of hit me: ‘Man. I guess I am.’”
Biles has also critiqued her husband’s athletic abilities publicly as well, when she ousted him for struggling to do her gymnastics workouts in response to his claims that he’s the better athlete between the two of them.
“He has done my workout in the gym and he can barely do it, and then I went to their NFL workout and I crushed it.” Biles said during an appearance on Peacock’s 2023 Back That Year Up.
But Biles’ film critique led Owens to seek out the Packers’ team psychologist, who helped the backup safety re-wire his mindset on the field.
“I’m playing free,” Owens said of how he’s played after the intervention. “I addressed stuff that I didn’t know that I was struggling with. But she brought it to my attention. Once you do that mental work? Your mind is a powerful weapon.”
Owens was elevated to a key role in Week 7 after Green Bay’s previous starting safety Darnell Savage went on IR with a calf injury. With his newfound mindset, Owens has had some of his best performance as a pro for the Packers this year.
He had a career game on Thanksgiving against the Lions, when he had 12 total tackles and his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery, which prompted Biles to geek out on social media. She has made the trip to Wisconsin to visit her husband several times this season and has even traveled to watch him play in road games as well.
In Green Bay’s first playoff game against the Cowboys this year, Owens had four total tackles, as the Dallas offense only scored one touchdown in the first half and was held to just 16 total points when the Packers had taken a 32-point lead.
Now, Owens will look to help the Packers take down the San Francisco 49ers and take another step toward the Super Bowl.
Owens could use a championship ring, as he is disproportionately behind Biles in terms of hardware. Biles is a four-time Olympic gold medalist and the most decorated gymnast in history, while Owens has no major pro or college accolades at all.
Still, this hasn’t stopped Owens from claiming that he is “the catch” in the relationship.
