This summer, Simone Biles made headlines for her incredible gymnastic feats after punching her ticket to Paris for the Summer Olympics. She, once again, made her country proud by bringing home several medals and shutting down haters in the process. Shortly, after the games ended, though, Biles caught flak for a different reason. The decorated athlete attended a preseason game for the Chicago Bears, of which her husband is a member. Biles went viral for attending the home game decked out in Green Bay Packers merchandise, and she’s now responded to the chatter.
Sports fans surely know that the Bears and Packers share a storied rivalry. With that, Simone Biles surely stirred the pot when she rolled up to Chicago’s Soldier Field sporting green, yellow and white. Of course, what added insult to injury is the fact that the 27-year-old gymnast’s hubby, Jonathan Owens, plays safety for the Bears. Biles addressed her viral brouhaha while chatting with TMZ Sports and, asked if she bought some Chicago gear, she gave a direct answer:
Yes, I have plenty now! So don’t you worry, guys!
On that note, it would seem that the next time Bears fans see the seven-time gold medal winner at a home game, she’ll surely be sporting blue, orange and white. Even I have to admit that her wardrobe snafu was a bit awkward. However, as she’s proven before, the Texas native can roll with the punches, as she took the online backlash from fans in stride at the time. Her jovial response to the question regarding Bears gear also suggests that she can be upbeat about the matter.
Simone Biles' sports faux pas, of course, doesn’t take away from her stunning performances at the Olympics. She managed to earn gold medals in the team, all-around and vault events and scored silver in the floor exercise. Much was said about the team win, in particular, as Biles’ former teammate, MyKayla Skinner, questioned the team’s work ethic ahead of it. Following their win, Biles succinctly responded to Skinner by sharing an Instagram post of the team with their medals and captioning it “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
Aside from that critique and the social media blowback from the Green Bay Packers merch situation, the World Championships winner has earned support from various fans as of late. Some of those admirers are A-list celebrities, including Zac Efron, who’s been an avid supporter of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also gifted her a bottle of his famous Teremana tequila, given her love of fine alcohol.
It would be an understatement to say that the past few months have been a whirlwind for Simone Biles, and that’s just counting the Olympics. Personally, it’s hard for me to say whether she expected to rile up Chicago Bears fans after that wardrobe mishap. But I’d like to think that as the upcoming NFL season goes by, all will be forgiven, since Biles will be showing up to root on her husband’s team!
You can relive some of Ms. Biles’ best moments from the 2024 Summer Olympics by streaming them with a Peacock subscription. Also, be aware that the second part of her docuseries, Simone Biles Rising, is set to debut for Netflix subscription holders on October 25.
