Simone Biles is bigger than a preseason game.
The Chicago Bears are giving safety safety Jonathan Owens, Biles’ husband, off from July 29 to Aug. 3 so he can watch Biles compete at the Paris Olympics. This despite the Bears being in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 1 against the Houston Texans — the team Owens played for when he met Biles. Owens also will miss four training camp practices — July 29-31 and Aug. 3.
“We respect the Olympics. That’s a big deal,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Monday. “He’s supporting the one he loves the most. I think that’s so cool that he gets to do that, we welcome that and it’s going to be awesome.”
“Go USA,” Eberflus added, drawing laughs.
This is Owens’ seventh season in the NFL and many teams give their veterans off during the preseason. Besides, as Eberflus said, Owens has a good reason to be absent.
Owens will be able to watch Biles in the team final on July 30, where the U.S. women are heavy favorites to win gold. He’ll also be able to watch her in the all-around final on Aug. 1, where Biles is likely to become just the third woman, and first since Vĕra Čáslavská in 1968, to win two Olympic titles.
Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, male or female, with 37 combined medals at the world championships and Olympics. The four-time Olympic champion is also tied with Shannon Miller for most medals by a U.S. gymnast. In addition to her four golds, she has a silver medal and two bronzes.
“It’s just fun for me to be able to witness (her) greatness,” Owens told USA TODAY Sports in June of watching his wife compete.
“I just love getting to watch her in her environment. Seeing her locked in, it’s just amazing to see,” he said. “She goes up there and does it, every freaking time. Surpasses what she’s supposed to do. I love that.”
Biles had actually spilled the beans on Owens getting to go to Paris, saying after the Olympic trials earlier this month that the Bears were going to give him time off.
“He’ll be there, yes,” she said then. “For just a short little time.
“Anytime we can show up for one another in support, we just get super excited because our schedules don’t align that much,” Biles added. “So whenever it does, it’s really important for the both of us to show up in support.”
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Owens has been at every one of Biles’ meets this summer, but this will be the first time he’s seen her compete internationally. The couple met in March 2020, and friends and family were not allowed at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 because of severe COVID protocols. Biles did not compete again internationally until last year’s world championships, which occurred in late September and early October, during the NFL’s regular season.
Biles is also a frequent spectator at Owens’ games, both with the Texans and last season with the Green Bay Packers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles’ husband, Jonathan Owens, will be in Paris for two events
