{"id":727665,"date":"2026-02-04T01:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/727665\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T01:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:55:16","slug":"maryvilles-jalen-sundell-takes-unique-journey-to-super-bowl-with-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/727665\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryville\u2019s Jalen Sundell takes unique journey to Super Bowl with Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARYVILLE, Mo. (KCTV) – Maryville\u2019s own Jalen Sundell will play in his first Super Bowl on Sunday night, with the support of his entire hometown from afar. <\/p>\n

Sundell\u2019s journey to the big game. and his spot as the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 starting center, involved hard work, perseverance, and patience. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were elated, shocked,\u201d Sundell\u2019s parents, Bob and Korena, said about the moment Seattle won the NFC Championship. <\/p>\n

His high school coach, Matt Webb, recalled a conversation he had with Sundell when he realized he had what it took to play football after high school. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018Hey, someday if you wanna play college football I think you have the ability to do that.\u2019 And he looked at me and said, \u2018Really coach?\u201d<\/p>\n

His coach\u2019s prediction came true, and Sundell went on to showcase his versatility on the offensive line for five years at North Dakota State. <\/p>\n

Sundell went undrafted after graduation due to injury, but he held onto his hopes of making his NFL dreams come true. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe summer after he graduated was a lot of unknown, a little bit dark,\u201d Sundell\u2019s dad, Bob, told KCTV5. \u201cHe was literally a couple weeks away from saying, \u2018This was a great journey, but football\u2019s not for me. It\u2019s just not gonna work out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was driving for Uber,\u201d his mom, Korena, recalled about the weeks he spent waiting for a call from any NFL teams. \u201cIt got to a point in his summer where it was very challenging to stick with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He eventually got that call from Seattle, inviting him to tryout. He was determined to not let his \u2018Undrafted Free Agent\u2019 status define him.<\/p>\n

\"SeattleSeattle Seahawks center Jalen Sundell (61) warms up before an NFL football divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026 in Seattle. (AP Photo\/Lindsey Wasson)(Lindsey Wasson | AP)<\/p>\n

He proceeded to make it to training camp, and eventually made the 53-man roster. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe texted us and said I\u2019m a Seahawk,\u201d Korena said. \u201cIt was something I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now less than two years later, he\u2019s their starting center, and is about to play in the Super Bowl. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll you need is a chance, and Seattle gave him that chance,\u201d added Korena. <\/p>\n

Since making his NFL dreams come true, Sundell has also welcomed his first child with his wife, Kaleesa. <\/p>\n

His family will get to watch him play on Sunday night in person. That includes his sister Serena, a former K-State basketball star, who\u2019s flying to Santa Clara from playing professionally in Australia. <\/p>\n

Though his family has only missed three or four Chiefs games in the last 30 years, they\u2019ve adjusted quite well to rooting for a different team now. <\/p>\n

\"IfIf you walk or drive past the Maryville High School football field, you\u2019ll find a video on constant loop highlighting Jalen and wishing him and the Seahawks luck in the big game on the video board.(KCTV5)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chiefs are now our second favorite team,\u201d his parents said with a laugh. <\/p>\n

Bob and Karena also said that no matter where they\u2019ve gone around town recently, everyone has had something positive to share about Jalen. <\/p>\n

And back in Maryville, Jalen\u2019s entire hometown will be cheering him on from 1,800 miles away, just as they have been all season. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of Chiefs fans up here, and we\u2019ve all enjoyed the Super Bowls in the last few years. But our team and everything has been pulling for the Seahawks just because he\u2019s one of our own,\u201d Coach Webb said, while sporting a Seattle Seahawks sweatshirt. <\/p>\n

If you walk or drive past the Maryville High School football field, you\u2019ll find a video on constant loop highlighting Jalen and wishing him and the Seahawks luck in the big game on the video board. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARYVILLE, Mo. (KCTV) – Maryville\u2019s own Jalen Sundell will play in his first Super Bowl on Sunday night,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[7,23066,105030,6,238,237,261,105029,2635,23840,16165],"class_list":{"0":"post-727665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jalen-sundell","10":"tag-maryville-high-school","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-seahawks","13":"tag-seattle","14":"tag-seattle-seahawks","15":"tag-seattle-super-bowl","16":"tag-seattleseahawks","17":"tag-super-bowl-60","18":"tag-super-bowl-lx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116009876719598282","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}