From NDSU To The Super Bowl, Grey Zabel & Jalen Sundell Enjoying ‘Unreal Experience’ Of Their Linked Careers

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Grey Zabel and Jalen Sundell are only a few years removed from their days of sharing a house in Fargo, North Dakota, one that include a pool table in the living room, and an unlevel one at that.

Now, not so far removed from being North Dakota State teammates and roommates who made impractical home furnishing decisions, Sundell and Zabel will start next to each as Seahawks teammates in Super Bowl LX.

For two college teammates to continue their NFL careers together is unusual enough, but for it to be a pair of players in the same position group, who played at an FCS school, that’s almost unheard of, and Sundell and Zabel don’t take that for granted.

“Who would have thought?” Zabel said. “A few years ago at North Dakota State, who would of thought that we’d be here, about to play for a Super Bowl. What an unreal experience, the world truly comes full-circle how this is happening. I’m super excited, and it might be a little bit longer of a hug in the tunnel before we run out onto the field knowing what this game means and how special of a moment it’s going to be.”

Sundell joined the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2024, and impressed coaches enough in training camp to earn a spot on the 53-man roster, though he spent the year as a backup. Zabel followed Sundell to Seattle a year later, but as a first-round pick, and it was clear from Day 1 that he was going to be the Seahawks’ starting left guard. Sundell, meanwhile, spent camp competing for the starting job at both center and right guard before eventually winning the center job, meaning he would be lining up every day next to his close friend and former roommate.

“We never imagined that, we never talked about that,” Sundell said. “We both knew that we wanted to play in the league, but playing together, let alone playing in the Super Bowl together, that was beyond our wildest dreams. It’s going to be surreal.”

Zabel and Sundell are the two new starters to an offensive line that, thanks to their play, as well as coaching and schematic changes, that has seen the Seahawks’ offensive line take a big step forward in 2025. While the line is just part of the team’s offensive success, there is no denying that the way that entire group has played this year is a big part of why the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl.

And as Zabel and Sundell have demonstrated, it can be beneficial when two young offensive line starters have the type of history they do.

“We both got taught football he same way, so there’s some things we can say to each other that maybe make sense to us, how we’re going to block something, or being on the same page about something,” Sundell said.

Said quarterback Sam Darnold, “It definitely shows, just the way that they communicate up there. Sometimes they don’t even need to communicate, they kind of know what each other are thinking on every single play. They’ve done a great job all year with their communication—just the way they’ve showed their bond throughout the season has been pretty special.”