Husband of Olympic Legend Joins Battle at Safety

New Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens, who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018, started every game in 2022 for the Houston Texans.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
May 12, 2023 4:13 PM EDT
Original:
May 12, 2023

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It’s been quite a week for Jonathan Owens. On Saturday, he married Olympic legend Simone Biles in Cabo, Mexico. On Friday, the safety signed with the Green Bay Packers.

Owens, who will turn 28 just before the start of training camp, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Missouri Western State in 2018. He missed his rookie season with a torn ACL, then played in one game in 2019, six games in 2020 and seven games in 2021, when he made his first career start and recorded his only interception.

In 2022, Owens started all 17 games and finished second on the team with 125 tackles while adding four passes defensed. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 576 snaps as a deep safety, 215 snaps in the box and 115 snaps in the slot.

Of 80 safeties to play 440 snaps last year, he ranked 23rd in missed-tackle percentage with 11 misses (8.6 percent), according to PFF. For comparison, Adrian Amos ranked 19th (7.8 percent), Rudy Ford ranked 53rd (13.3 percent) and Savage ranked 77th (18.8 percent).

Unofficially, the Packers have 91 players on their roster. That is one more than the 90-man limit. However, because four of them are unsigned draft picks, Owens officially gives the Packers 87 players under contract. Among them are nine safeties, including seventh-round draft pick Anthony Johnson and free-agent addition Tarvarius Moore.

A source said Amos, the starter the past four seasons but still unsigned, remains an option. However it is perhaps worth noting Owens was given jersey No. 34, previously worn by fellow safety James Wiggins, and Wiggins was given the No. 31 that had been worn by Amos.

If Amos doesn’t re-sign, it’s going to be an absolute free-for-all in training camp. Savage and Ford could be the starters to open the offseason, but Owens started every game last season for the Texans, Moore started eight games for the powerful 49ers in 2020 before suffering a torn Achilles and Innis Gaines started once for Green Bay last year. Johnson and Tariq Carpenter, a seventh-round pick last year, could get in the mix, as well.

At pro day in 2018, Owens measured 5-foot-10 3/4 and 210 pounds and showed eye-popping athleticism with a 4.43 in the 40 and a 43-inch vertical. So, he’s a superb athlete – even if not as recognizable as his famous wife.

“It puts an extra chip on my shoulder to prove myself even more because I’ve made more of a buzz off the field than I have on the field,” Owens told The News-Press in 2021. “I’m eager to prove it to a lot of people because they don’t really know me as the football player, it’s like her boyfriend. …

“If anything, it’s more motivating to me because I see someone who’s at the top of their sport,” Owens added. “It gives me something to strive for. She believes in me, which gives me even more reason to go harder, man.”

Owens tore the ACL in his right knee while with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He tore the ACL knee in his left knee in high school – but won the long jump, anyway. When the Texans signed him to the practice squad early in the 2019 season, he cried tears of joys.

“Even when I was on practice squad, I always consider myself the best in my eyes,” Owens told HoustonTexans.com last year. “Earlier in my career, I was just playing special teams. Even when I was on special teams, I would always tell myself I know I can make those plays and I'd visualize myself and I'd just watch guys for four years.”

Owens and Biles posted a photo from Lambeau Field.

Biles, who won four gold medals in the Olympics and 19 more golds at the World Championships, and Owens officially tied the knot last month. Then, it was off to Cabo.

“We had to get married ‘legally’ here in the U.S. since our wedding will be a destination wedding,” Biles told Vogue.