RENTON, Wash. — From the moment he arrived at the Seahawks’ headquarters, Grey Zabel felt a warm embrace, a homecoming vibe at a place he’d never actually been.
He owed that feeling, largely, to Jalen Sundell, who was at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center to greet Zabel when the Seahawks’ first-round pick arrived in Seattle the day after he was drafted last April.
“I flew out the next day and he was literally waiting for me here,” said Zabel, the Seahawks’ rookie left guard. “He gave me a big hug and then he ended up showing me around the facility a bit. To have a friendly face you know right when you get here … it was pretty surreal.”
With Sundell as his guide, Zabel has proved to be in good hands.
The Seahawks offensive line, in turn, has been in mighty good shape this season with Sundell and Zabel at the heart of it.
Once teammates and roommates at North Dakota State, Sundell and Zabel will now get the chance to line up side-by-side at Super Bowl LX when the Seahawks play the New England Patriots next Sunday.
“It’s been special,” said Sundell, the Seahawks’ center. “And it’s awesome that we get to do this together.”
Sundell, 26, and Zabel, 23, grew close after Zabel arrived at North Dakota State as a freshman in 2020.
“He was like that tough big brother when I first got there,” Zabel said.
They lived together for three years after that and were part of the Bison’s FCS national-championship team in 2021.
“He’s been one of one — an unbelievable friend through it all,” Zabel said. “Just the friendship with him, then continuing to play right next to me, it’s been pretty unique. We’re excited to continue that and have one more opportunity this season.”
Zabel, a self-described farm boy from Pierre, S.D., has started every game for the Seahawks this season, earning NFL All-Rookie Team honors from the Pro Football Writers Association.
“The thing about him is, he’s always going to keep competing and getting better,” Sundell said. “There wasn’t like a ‘rookie wall’ that he hit, which I think is something you see with a lot of guys.
“That’s just something that’s ingrained in you coming from North Dakota State — that you just don’t quit.”
Zabel has said much the same about Sundell, who battled through a foot injury during his senior season at North Dakota State in 2023. Sundell aggravated the injury during the pre-draft process and wound up going undrafted in 2024.
Sundell, an FCS All-American as a senior for the Bison, worked part-time as an Uber driver until the Seahawks called with an invitation to try out.
That tryout went well enough that the Seahawks signed him in July 2024, just before the start of training camp. He became one of the most pleasant surprises of camp, earning a spot on the team’s 53-man roster coming out of training camp in 2024.
As a rookie, Sundell appeared in 12 games in a reserve role.
Last summer, he was one of the Seahawks’ most improved players, earning the “Top Hawk” award for his offseason conditioning. Then he won the starting job at center.
Sundell missed a month after having knee surgery in mid-November, but he returned in December and played every snap over the final four games of the regular season.
“He had a heck of a training camp,” coach Mike Macdonald said. “… As the center, you’ve got to make the right calls and you’ve got to be decisive and you’ve got to take the line and you’ve got to be on your stuff because that’s where it starts.
“Just really pleased with where he is right now as a player, and he’s got a great future.”