"He's not your typical rookie:" Grey Zabel's journey from South Dakota to Super Bowl 60

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Grey Zabel took a seat on the podium next to Seahawks general manager John Schneider one day after being selected with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

"He checks all the boxes," an ecstatic Schneider told reporters. "We're gonna do whatever we can to help him be a successful player, to help us be a world championship team."

Nine months later, Zabel, still sporting the signature mustache, took a seat at the podium on Super Bowl Opening Night. This time it wasn't just Seahawks' reporters looking back at him.

He faced media from all over the globe ready to ask him about his upbringing, his favorite shows to binge, and yes, the occasional football question. There were people asking for selfies to send to their mom, YouTube personalities handing out Pokemon cards, and people giving away bucket hats calling attention to charity.

In other words, Super Bowl Opening night was, as usual, complete chaos.

Every question or photo opp was handled with grace. Zabel was thoughtful, composed, and interesting. More and more media started to wander over to his podium, hoping to get content.

Yes, content from a left guard who attended an FCS school and grew up near a town of 14,008, in central South Dakota. 

When the Seahawks take the field Sunday against the New England Patriots, the rookie left guard will be one of the keys to the game, going against star DT Milton Williams and a physical front four. There's nothing to suggest that he won't once again be ready for the moment, just as he was before the world was watching.

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Grey Zabel's humble beginnings from the farm to FCS

Pierre, S.D., (pronounced "peer") has the distinction of being the second-smallest state capital in the United States. Zabel grew up on his family farm and played football, baseball and basketball at T.F. Riggs High School.

His older brother Peyton was the quarterback for the Governors. Grey got a role on varsity as a sophomore, and an injury shifted him to center in the state championship game. 

Without having any in-game reps, head coach Steve Steele handed the ball to the younger Zabel to snap to his older brother.

"I remember him coming up at halftime and being like 'gosh, their nose guard is a man. Like wow, he's good!'" Steele told The Sporting News. "I just remember laughing; that's just Grey's personality."

Steele's squad recovered a fumble late in the game and needed two kneel-downs to run out the clock. Since the Zabel brothers hadn't practiced under center, Peyton told Steele they would go shotgun to end the game. 

"They snapped it, we got the two kneel-downs and won the title," Steele said.

The Governors would go on to win state titles in Grey Zabel's junior and senior seasons as well.

A developmental prospect starts to blossom

Zabel grew to 6-4, 225 his junior year, staying at center. 

He was starting to believe football could take him places. He also had a shot to be drafted into the MLB, like brother Peyton, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018.

"I think it first started sophomore year, I was like maybe I can go play college football," Zabel told SN. "Senior year it was like maybe I can go play Division 1 football. You kind of slowly start realizing your dreams coming to fruition."

Steele knew there would be football beyond high school for Zabel.

"We felt like he's athletic, he's big, he's strong," Steele said. "He's definitely going to get into that FCS range. And there were some FBS sniffs."

Zabel was young for his grade, and even after putting on more weight before his senior season, he was still playing at around 245 pounds, too small for an FBS lineman. He committed to play football at FCS power North Dakota State.

"The thing I've always felt set Grey apart was his mind. There's always guys who understand the game and everything, but he has a very genuine curiosity. He's always eager to learn and was never hesitant to bring in ideas."

Steele points to one story he remembers from Zabel's senior year.

Zabel would often come hang with his coach during lunch, talking football and strategy. He showed Steele a play his future college roommate, Cam Miller, was running in high school in Solon, Iowa.

Zabel wanted to install it at T.F. Riggs.

"Sometimes you see that with kids who suggest plays they see in the NFL. It's a cool play, but not applicable to what we have," Steele said. "He was showing me 'this is how they do it, but this is how we should do it.' It was just like a coach. You could just tell he had actually put the time into looking how we could run it.

"If you've got that level of curiosity and that level of concept up in your head as a 17-year-old, you can probably do some pretty special things. You've seen that all the way through his journey through NDSU and even now into Seattle."

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North Dakota State's latest star

Zabel enrolled at NDSU and started as freshman during the abbreviated and unusual FCS spring season of 2021. His roommate was QB Cam Miller, now a member of Las Vegas Raiders after being drafted in the 6th round in 2025. An injury limited Zabel a bit in his second season, when the Bison beat Montana State to capture the national championship. Midway through his junior campaign, he broke into the starting lineup to stay.

By his senior season, Zabel was firmly on the radar of NFL teams. He moved from guard to tackle as a fourth-year senior, then played left tackle during his "covid year" for NDSU. The Bison would win their 10th FCS title in 2024, thanks to a powerful offense led by Miller and star freshman back CharMar Brown, who later transferred to Miami.

Invites to the Senior Bowl and NFL combine were no-brainers for Zabel. His stock was rising, and rising quickly.

North Dakota State's NFL pedigree is strong, especially in the trenches. Zabel's close friend Cody Mauch became a draft darling in 2023 and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48th overall. Jalen Sundell will start next to Zabel against the Patriots on Sunday. All told, there are currently seven Bison offensive linemen on NFL rosters.

As the draft echo chamber started to pick up, Zabel's name was all over the place in mocks. Some experts loved his steadiness, others weren't so sure he was a Day 1 pick. He was likely to move to guard at the next level, and it was considered to be a strong crop of lineman. Could he compete at the highest level? Would he be a first-round pick?

The Seahawks were one of the teams that wanted him from the start.

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Seahawks select Grey Zabel 18th overall

When head coach Mike McDonald and Schneider met the media after selecting Zabel, it was clear they absolutely loved the pick. They told reporters he was their top target at guard. Only Tyler Booker of Alabama was selected above Zabel among interior linemen.

"Our first exposure was at the Senior Bowl, and he had a great week," Schneider said. "He's really athletic, he's tough, and he finishes blocks" McDonald said.

Zabel was with family, friends and coaches when the Seahawks called to select him.

"I'm probably gonna start diving into these Busch Lights and start celebrating. Have the 12-hour rule. We get to celebrate it for 12 hours and get back to work," he said after being selected.

The Seahawks loved Zabel's versatility. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who is coaching his final game with Seattle in Super Bowl 60 before taking over as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, told SN he loved his rookie's mentality from the start.

"If you're gonna draft someone in the first round, you need that guy to start for you for 10 years. You're looking to see if this guy is tough enough to hang around, and is he willing to do the work. We knew Grey was."

Zabel started all 17 games for the Seahawks in his rookie campaign, plus both playoff games. He became just the third offensive lineman in the last 10 seasons to finish in the top three of voting for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

The Seahawks offense thrived under Kubiak, with a strong running game in the regular season that has become a dominant running game in the postseason. Quarterback Sam Darnold was sacked just 27 times all year, the fourth fewest mark in the NFL. That helped the Seahawks to the NFC's best record, a first-round bye, and Super Bowl 60.

Zabel has made his mark on the entire team, not just the offense.

"That's my guy," Leonard Williams told SN. "He's not your typical rookie. He came in as a humble kid. Willing and able to learn. He's not just picking his offensive line's brain. He's also going up to me, Jarran (Reed) and the veterans on the D-Line. You've just seen his development throughout whole the season."

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Small town dreams to Super Bowl fame

Zabel's best quality might be his ability to put things into perspective, and the pace he goes about his business. No moment appears too big for him. He doesn't get flustered on the field, and he doesn't get flustered when speaking off it.

Throughout the entire week in San Jose, he would always pause before answering whatever question was thrown his way. Just for a second, to think, and then would give his all when answering the media's questions.

"There's always those ideas and dreams," Zabel told SN when asked if he had a singular moment when he knew he'd be in the NFL one day.

"It just keeps kind of stacking up and stacking up. When you're in the NFL, you can get to the divisional round. Then it's like, alright maybe you can play in the NFC Championship if we win this game. So now it's like, alright we're going to play in the Super Bowl. Maybe the dream is to win the Super Bowl."

He continued: "I think that is the coolest part about sports, you just continue to keep your head down, you continue to go to work, and you can have possibilities like this happen."

And as much as Seattle has embraced him, Zabel still has plenty of support from where it all began.

"It's been a real surreal experience this whole season watching him," Steele said. "He's still Grey. He's a fun-loving, goofy kind of guy and he'll get along with anybody. It's really neat to see that at the highest level."

Zabel came back to Pierre during the Seahawks bye week this season. If that was a cool moment, then what would a Super Bowl win mean?

"We obviously hope he wins. It would be really incredible to see that. It would bring so much joy to everybody here, all of our players here. It would mean so much to so many kids. To not be recruited to the Power 5 because he was too light at the time, and things worked out - it can work out for you, too."