Jonathan James Owens (born July 22, 1995) is an American professional football safety for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Missouri Western, and signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He has also played for the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers. He is married to American artistic gymnast Simone Biles.

Jonathan Owens
refer to caption
Owens with the Houston Texans in 2022
No. 36 – Chicago Bears
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1995-07-22) July 22, 1995 (age 29)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school:Christian Brothers College (MO)
College:Missouri Western (2013–2017)
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2024
Total tackles:227
Sacks:2.0
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:2
Pass deflections:8
Interceptions:1
Defensive touchdowns:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Owens played high school football at Christian Brothers College High School (CBC) under coach Scott Pingel after attending middle school at Loyola Academy of St. Louis. During his high school career, Owens won CBC Linebacker of the Year.[1]

College career

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After his redshirt year during the 2013 season, Owens played defensive back for Missouri Western State University (MWSU). During his final season in 2017, Owens was MWSU Male Student-Athlete of the Year and earned second-team all-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) honors. Owens was on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll throughout the course of his college career. He majored in pre-physical therapy with the goal of becoming a doctor.[1]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10+34 in
(1.80 m)
210 lb
(95 kg)
30+78 in
(0.78 m)
9+78 in
(0.25 m)
4.43 s 1.55 s 2.56 s 4.06 s 7.00 s 43.0 in
(1.09 m)
11 ft 0 in
(3.35 m)
18 reps
All values from Pro Day[2]

Arizona Cardinals

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Owens signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL draft.[3] During the last week of organized team activities before the 2018 season, Owens was waived due to an injury, and spent the entire season on injured reserve.[4]

On August 31, 2019, Owens was waived by the Cardinals.[5]

Houston Texans

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On September 30, 2019, Owens was signed to the practice squad of the Houston Texans.[6] He was promoted to the active roster on November 21, 2019, but waived two days later and re-signed to the practice squad.[7] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Texans on January 13, 2020.[8]

On September 5, 2020, Owens was waived by the Texans and signed to the practice squad the next day.[9][10] He was elevated to the active roster on October 10 and 17 for the team's weeks 5 and 6 games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.[11][12] On December 12, 2020, Owens was signed to the active roster.[13]

On August 31, 2021, Owens was waived by the Texans and re-signed to the practice squad.[14][15] He was promoted to the active roster on December 4.[16] On December 9, the Texans signed Owens to a two-year, $1.175 million deal that ran through the 2022 season.[17] On December 26, 2021, Owens had his first career interception and first fumble recovery in the Texans' upset win over the Los Angeles Chargers.[18] On January 3, 2022, Owens was placed on injured reserve after suffering a dislocated wrist in the team's week 16 loss against the San Francisco 49ers.[19]

Green Bay Packers

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On May 12, 2023, Owens signed with the Green Bay Packers.[20] On Thanksgiving Day against the Detroit Lions, Owens scored his first career touchdown on a 27-yard fumble recovery as the Packers won 29–22.[21]

Chicago Bears

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On March 13, 2024, Owens signed a two-year contract with the Chicago Bears.[22] In the season opener against the Tennessee Titans, Owens scored the Bears' first touchdown of the season on a returned blocked punt in a 24–17 victory.[23][24]

NFL career statistics

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Regular season

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck Sfty PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD
2018 ARI 0 0 did not play due to injury
2019 HOU 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2020 HOU 6 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021 HOU 7 2 18 10 8 0.0 0 1 1 7 7.0 7 0 0 1 6 0
2022 HOU 17 17 125 84 41 1.0 0 4 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023 GB 17 11 84 58 26 1.0 0 3 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 1 27 1
Career 48 30 227 152 75 2.0 0 8 1 7 7.0 7 0 1 2 33 1
Source: pro-football-reference.com

Postseason

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck Sfty PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR
2023 GB 2 2 7 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
Career 2 2 7 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
Source: pro-football-reference.com

Personal life

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Owens and gymnast Simone Biles announced their engagement on February 15, 2022.[25] They married on April 22, 2023.[26] He was granted time off from Chicago Bears training camp to watch her compete in Paris at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b Missouri Western State Griffons Profile
  2. ^ "2018 NFL Draft Scout Jonathan Owens College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Arizona Cardinals agree to terms with 24 rookie free agents". The Arizona Republic. April 30, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  4. ^ Urban, Darren (June 11, 2018). "Cardinals Sign Safety Travell Dixon". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  5. ^ Odegard, Kyle (August 31, 2019). "After Cuts, Cardinals Arrive At Initial Roster". AZCardinals.com.
  6. ^ Wilson, Aaron (September 30, 2019). "Texans sign DB Jonathan Owens to practice squad". Houston Chronicle.
  7. ^ "Texans activate TE Jordan Thomas off Reserve/Injured list". HoustonTexans.com. November 21, 2019. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  8. ^ "Texans sign 10 players to reserve/future contracts". HoustonTexans.com. January 13, 2020.
  9. ^ "Transactions: Roster Moves (9-5-2020)". HoustonTexans.com. September 5, 2020.
  10. ^ "Texans Announce Roster Moves (9-7-2020)". HoustonTexans.com. September 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Comeaux, Jonathan (October 10, 2020). "Texans Promote ILB Nate Hall & S Jonathan Owens To Active Roster". NFLTradeRumors.co. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  12. ^ Lane, Mark (October 17, 2020). "Texans promote S Jonathan Owens to the active roster". USA Today. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  13. ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (12–12–20)". HoustonTexans.com. December 12, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (8-31-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. August 31, 2021.
  15. ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (9-1-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. September 1, 2021.
  16. ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (12-4-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. December 4, 2021.
  17. ^ "Texans New Contract Details on 2 Signings".
  18. ^ "Texans Safety Jonathan Owens' Reward from Girlfriend Simone Biles Shows They're Perfect Together (12-28-2021)". Clutchpoints.com. December 28, 2021.
  19. ^ "Texans' Jonathan Owens: Hits injured reserve". CBSSports.com. January 4, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "Packers sign S Jonathan Owens". Packers.com. May 12, 2023.
  21. ^ Molski, Max (November 23, 2023). "Simone Biles celebrates husband's first career NFL touchdown on Thanksgiving". NBC New York. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  22. ^ Mayer, Larry (March 13, 2024). "Roster Move: Bears agree to terms with safety Jonathan Owens". ChicagoBears.com.
  23. ^ Armour, Nancy (September 8, 2024). "Jonathan Owens scores Bears' first TD of the season on blocked punt return". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  24. ^ Cronin, Courtney (September 8, 2024). "Jonathan Owens returns blocked punt for Bears' first TD". espn. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  25. ^ France, Lisa (February 15, 2022). "Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens are engaged". CNN. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  26. ^ Rizzo, Laura (May 7, 2023). "I Do! Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens Are Married: Courthouse Wedding Details". Life&Style. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  27. ^ "Simone Biles: Bears granting husband Jonathan Owens time off from training camp to see Olympics". NFL.com. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
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