“I wish people would see that viral schedule that came up. 6 a.m to 11 p.m. You are doing stuff all day. I don’t have time, I didn’t cable,” Simone Bile’s husband Jonathan Owens had recently said, referring to his busy college football camp around 2016. Therefore, he had very little idea about the razzmatazz of gymnastics back then. Notably, it was the same year when Simone swept the Rio Olympics. But Jonathan’s situation surely has changed after his hook-up with Simone Biles.

However, this opinion reached a new milestone when he was spotted in the stands of the XL Center for the Core Hydration Classic 2024. In his first-ever appearance in any of Simone’s meets, Jonathan Owens shouted out loud to cheer Biles on the gymnastics mat, who was on the brink of her Olympic season-opening contest.

The NFL homebody watched everything minutely. From time to time, he jumped in his seat as well, failing to keep calm in the nail-biting moments. His unfiltered reactions did not go out of the sight of Simone Biles. After winning the seventh Core Hydration Classic title of her career, the proud wife reacted to her husband’s appearance in the corner. Additionally, she elaborated on the differences between gymnastic meets and the NFL games that Jonathan Owens is used to observing. 

Just when Simone Biles appeared on the sidelines tonight, before warming up for her schedules, she shared a glance with Jonathan Owens, seated with Nellie Biles, Simone’s mother, in the stands. Later, the proud husband erupted in joy watching Simone landing the emphatic vault routines and collecting praise from the full house.

The most decorated gymnast posted an all-around score of 59.500 (floor exercise – 14.800, uneven bars – 14.550, balance beam – 14.550, and vault – 15.600). The event’s highlight was her vault performance because this was the first time she did it without her coach Laurent Landi standing on the mat. Earlier, he would stand there to spot her because of precautionary measures, but this led to half a point deduction.

In the post-event conversation, when Biles asked about her takes on JO’s experience, the Olympian acknowledged, “I think this one was huge”. Subsequently, she elaborated on the reason for it. As per Biles, Owens is used to watching the large gatherings, and the flares being a regular NFL player. But the differentiating factor could be “to hear those girls scream as loud as the fans in the football field”.

Simone also could not have been more elated having Jonathan beside her for her season opener. But, Jonathan’s appearance will surely bring up memories of his previous experiences of watching gymnastics, which he has revealed in his previous interviews. It showed that the 28-year-old NFL safety has come a long way in relishing his wife’s stature. 

Owen goes from a naïve spectator to an ardent admirer

After their virtual meet-up on the social media and dating app, Raya, Jonathan Owens started hanging out with Simone Biles in person. Amid the lockdown, both Jonathan and Simone Biles started to go to each other’s place. But during that time, Jonathan Owens knew nothing about Simone Biles’ fame. But later he came across that, and that made him think about his wife’s stunning stature. 

Narrating that, the Chicago Bears’ pro added, “We were just going to each other’s house, and she never bragged about the magnitude of her success,” During that time, Simone Biles already had an Olympic all-around gold medal to boast. Alongside, Jonathan did not have any working knowledge about the gymnastics sport as well.

As he recalled, he might have watched the sport in 2012 for the first time. So, according to him, he is quite a latecomer when it comes to understanding the sport. All he admired about Simone was her down-to-earth nature, not her sky-high fame. That impressed the phenomenal gymnast as well. When confessing about her early emotions toward her husband, the 27-year-old conceded, “I saw him, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s pretty cute’, so I said hi”. It was those days when the Raya app became the bridge between them.

Throughout this duration, all those brief moments have made their bond stronger. So when any of them face any crisis, the other one appears in support. It was evident when Jonathan Owens jokingly made his ‘catch’ comment. Soon, all hell broke loose. But Simone Biles turned a blind eye to the situation, believing in her husband. At the Core Hydration Classic, Jonathan mindfully reciprocated that, standing by Simone as she added another win to her bag.