August 17, 2024. The Chicago Bears were up against Cincinnati Bengals for a preseason game. The Windy City fans and the players would have been in high spirits since their star supporter was there to cheer for them. Simone Biles was in the house, fresh off her 4-medal haul in Paris. But wait. Someone seemed to pour cold water on the excitement as Simone entered the Soldier Field stadium. How could she do the blunder?

The Bears fraternity was at their wits’ end looking at the jacket Simone was wearing. And why not? Well, it, of course, had Jonathan’s image printed all over it. But the safety was in the No. 34 jersey. That’s the Green Bay Packers! What else did the Bears fans need to explode? After all, The Bears-Packers rivalry is one of the oldest in the history of the NFL, dating back to 1921. It all started with a punch. And that too in the first-ever game between the two franchises at Cubs Park in Chicago.

In that game on November 27, 1921, the Bears, then known as the Chicago Staleys, defeated the Packers 20-0. Pete Stinchcomb scored the first touchdown in the rivalry and the first for the Bears against the Packers in a 45-yard run. But the highlight moment of the game came when Tarzan Taylor, a guard of the Bears, punched Green Bay’s Tackle Howard ”Cub” Buck in the nose, breaking it. You must be thinking that a fierce fight happened after that. Actually, it was just the opposite.

The Packers did not retaliate. Instead, Buck is known to have reprimanded Taylor by saying softly, “You’re supposed to be a college graduate and a gentleman, you know.” Taylor had claimed this very reaction of Buck hurt him more than any beating would have. Notably, despite winning the first matchup, the Bears are on the back foot in the rivalry, at present stats reveal.

Till January 7, this year, the two have met 208 times and the Packers lead the race 107-95-6. One more page is set to be added to the rivalry when the Packers host the Chicago Bears in the 2024 regular-season finale early next year. With this fiery history in mind, the backlash against Simone was immense. But her stand was rather interesting amid all this.

Instead of a direct clap back, she took to her threads and wrote, “The way I be wanting to clap back soooo bad but I gotta stay as classy as possible.” If that was enough, days after she was originally seen wearing it, Simone posted a photo on X of her wearing the jacket standing next to Owens with the caption “Bear Down.” In fact, Owens then shared his wife’s post in his Instagram stories and commented on her post with two hearts, one blue and one orange. Now, the husband has come up with a straightforward explanation for Simone’s action.

On the Chicago Bears’ YouTube channel, the host, Lauren Screeden, candidly asked Owens, “Can I get her a new jacket?” Owens immediately caught the tone of the conversation and quickly explained that it was a casual move. “It was a last-second decision…she’s going to come to the game so she’s like ‘oh let me grab this it has his face all over’… it wasn’t like intentional.” Understandably, Simone was just back from Paris. She might not have had the time to pick one, only to don the piece from Pressed by Sarita. However, the jacket was one of a kind.

The custom-made jacket had an elaborate collage of Owens, which might be the reason that Simone overlooked the rivalry factor. the jacket is part of a new collection that the brand Pressed by Sarita launched in April. And it has a unique connection to Simone.

The brand calls it The Pressed Tapestry collection. In an April 9 Instagram post, the brand stated that it was exclusively available to its VIP members on its website. As the post claimed, Simone was one of its first “VIP” clients to choose the jacket. “Shout out to @simonebiles for being our first zip up tapestry jacket and allowing us to capture content with her piece ❤️” the brand had written. But the fans were in no mood to appreciate the design or concept of the jacket.

Interestingly, some fans even tagged Kristin Juszczyk, wife of San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who has previously designed Packers-themed outfits for Simone. The ask was to design a Bears-themed version of the jacket. Not only fans, but former Bears players also could not stay away from the chatter.

In a post on X by the CHGO Bears on September 11, former Bears players were heard talking about how elated they were to see Jonathan Owens score the first touchdown of the season against the Giants last weekend. When Alex Brown, former Bears DE joked about how he was stunned to see the safety player being addressed as Mr. Simone Biles during the broadcast of the match, LB Lance Briggs lashed out, saying that Owens needs to tell his wife not to wear Packers gear at his matches anymore. However, some were a little lenient.

“We gotta give her a pass on that first one, cause she’s Simone Biles,” Brown said. Meanwhile, one participant in the conversation detailed how he reached out to the gymnast’s husband about the issue and how Owens claimed that he needed to make Simone aware of the fact that the NFL teams are defended by armies of dedicated fans who aren’t up for letting any slip-up go unnoticed. “I gotta tell her, I gotta do better,” he claimed to have been told by Owens. But looks like Simone is determined to rectify the mistake.

Last week, as Simone was leaving the Global Summit on Women’s Mental Health, hosted by Kate Spade New York, she told TMZ Sports, “Yes, I have plenty [of Bears gear] now. so, don’t you worry, guys!” While Simone got her first outing with the Bears wrong, Jonathan has been getting it right lately. After facing a lot of criticism earlier this year for his comments about not knowing Simone Biles before they started dating, Owens has been giving major couple goals, showing up in the competition venues for Simone.

Jonathan Owens prioritized cheering for Simone Biles in Paris over NFL duties

It’s not just Simone Biles who’s flaunting Owens in her jacket. Owens, too, made sure that he was right there in the gallery while his wife aimed for the coveted gold medals to make the nation proud. Owens was spotted sitting alongside the Biles family on the stands wearing a Biles-themed shirt. He was not only present there to be her cheerleader but like a serious guardian; he was seen taking down scores from the scoreboard to calculate exactly where Biles stood after each round of competition.

Jonathan Owens prioritized being there in Paris to cheer for Biles so much that he did not even hesitate to negotiate his NFL contract with the Chicago Bears. While signing for the Bears, Owens had the Paris Games’ date in mind and requested his team to allow him to leave for Paris, even if for a few days, so that he could support his wife. 

Catering to the heartwarming request, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus stated, “That’s a big deal, where he’s supporting the one he loves the most.” As the team granted him the leave, Jonathan even praised the team for their generosity. But what is his take on the Mr. Biles moniker he has been getting now and then? The latest came during the Bears’ game against the Titans when Adam Amin of Fox Sports called him by that name after his first touchdown.

While we have yet to hear from Jonathan on this, Simone has taken strong offense about it in the past. But Jonathan Owens surely takes pride in being the husband of the GOAT. “How did I get so lucky? That this is my wife and I get to see someone that’s literally at the pinnacle at her sport and I get to call this my wife. It’s amazing. There’s no words to really describe, just blessed,” he has said, seeing Simone compete in Paris. The mutual support the duo displays for each other indeed makes them one of the most desirable athletic couples.