FARGO — When former North Dakota State players Jalen Sundell and Grey Zabel are introduced as starting offensive linemen for the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s Super Bowl, in the stands will be their mothers, Korena Sundell and Tanna Zabel, who have been along for a trip they could never have imagined. Their sons were Division I FCS national champions, Bison roommates and now teammates in the biggest football game in the world.
Plenty of ups. But also a bunch of downs. The Zabels and Sundells have almost seen it all and yet both of their sons are young by NFL standards. Grey is a rookie. Sundell is in his second season.
“Bison moms know what your sons have been through,” Korena said. “We get the phone calls, we know all the hurts and injuries and the little things that go on. To share these moments with Tana, we’ve hugged, we’ve cried, we’ve laughed and we’ve celebrated together. To have somebody that knows and is going through the same thing together is extremely special.”
It’s not just the two sons, either. When Serena Sundell, Jalen’s sister, tore her ACL playing professional basketball in Australia, the Zabels reached out. When Grey went down with a knee injury against the Los Angeles Rams, it was the Sundells who texted the Zabels with support.
The injury turned out to be less serious than initially thought and Grey was in the starting lineup the following game. Jalen wasn’t as fortunate, missing a month this season with a knee injury.
“It’s nice to have someone that you know that is going through the same stuff,” Tanna said. “You can always call if you need to if you’re having a moment or asking for advice and getting pick-me-ups if you will.”
The fact Grey Zabel has been a rock this season was probably expected given he was a first round draft pick last spring. Sundell took a different path, signing as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and winning the starting job this season.
In line with what they did during Bison home games in Fargo, they found a tailgating area adjacent to Lumen Field in Seattle and then started inviting family members of other players. They ran into Seattle sports talk radio host Mike Salk during the playoffs, who talked about the rare chances of two former college teammates and roommates playing next to each other in the NFL.
“If someone could have scripted it, this is what it would look like,” Tanna said. “We’ve got quite a group now. It doesn’t equate with an NDSU-type of tailgate party but we’ve been having fun.”
Seattle Seahawks guard Grey Zabel (76) at the line of scrimmage Sept. 14, 2025, against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Charles LeClaire/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Jalen was at the Seattle football facility when the Zabel family first arrived after the NFL Draft. The comfort factor of having a former Bison player was priceless. It was Sundell who quickly acclimated Grey to the life of a Seahawks player.
It probably was that way, too, at NDSU with Sundell coming to campus in the fall of 2018 and Grey two years later. Korena said she heard NDSU being a “player-led team” countless times when he was a Bison player.
“It’s been a ride,” Tanna said. “A friend of mine asked the other day, can you believe he’s going to play in the Super Bowl? Quite honestly I’m still trying to wrap my head around that he’s playing in the NFL. Period. The Super Bowl is just unbelievable.”
Tanna and her husband Mark flew to San Francisco on Wednesday.
“I think as we get closer to the game I’ll be a nervous wreck,” Tanna said.
Korena said she’s trying to get better at watching the game from a football perspective as opposed to an emotional side.
“I feel like I’m dreaming, everyone talks about the word ‘Super Bowl,’” Korena said. “But to be here? There really are no words for it. We’re just extremely happy for Jalen, it doesn’t happen without hard work.”
It’s been a long trek for the Zabels since the day the Bison started fall camp in early August of 2024. After 16 college games, Grey left Frisco, Texas, and the national title game in early January 2024 to train in California. He played in the Senior Bowl, he prepared for the NFL Combine, he took part in NDSU’s Pro Day, he went through the NFL Draft process and after that to summer obligations in Seattle.
There hasn’t been much of a break for anybody.
“You worry as a mom. He’s 23 years old but I still worry he’s doing OK, both physically and mentally,” Tanna said. “In the back of my mind, I always thought it would be great to win each game but as long as he’s walking off the field at the end of the game, that’s a win for me as a mom and as a parent.”
Said Grey at the Super Bowl Media Day earlier this week: “What an unbelievable woman she’s been in my life, one of one. First off I probably got all of my athletic genes from my mom. She was the best mom I could possibly ever have. I’ll never be able to repay what my mom and dad have done for me.”
Korena said when she gets inside Lumen Field, at one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL, she always looks around and soaks it all up.
“And then to see your kid run out, I shed a tear just to watch him come out of the tunnel,” she said.
Jalen Sundell chats with former Bison and current Cincinnati Bengal Cordell Volson during NDSU Pro Day at the Nodak Insurance Football Performance Complex on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
David Samson/The Forum
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.
