Jalen Sundell’s incredible journey to start in Super Bowl 60 has hometown of Maryville rallying behind him
By: Brett Kennedy
(MARYVILLE, MO) – Maryville native Jalen Sundell is now just one win away from becoming a Super Bowl champion.
It’s been quite the ride for the former Spoofhound. In Sundell’s 2nd season in the NFL, signing with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent and working his way up the depth chart, he will now lead the offensive line and snap the ball to Sam Darnold in the Super Bowl.
Sundell looks forward to playing the New England Patriots, but says that even if the Seahawks lose, he looks towards the bigger picture.
“It would mean a lot. To be able to cap it off with the Super Bowl. It’s really about, focusing on one day at a time,” said Sundell. “Even after the Super Bowl, the game of football goes on. So, the championships are awesome, but at the end of the day, it’s not everything in life.”
A win Sunday would bring a football championship title to Sundell at every level. Three FCS national championships at North Dakota State in college, a high school state title in 2017 with Maryville, even an undefeated season in middle school. The whole city of Maryville has rallied around Sundell as he prepares to represent the Northwest Missouri area on the national stage.
“I get a bunch of support from back home and a million texts after games,” said Sundell. “I think my mom sent me a picture of a sign in our neighborhood. There’s been a bunch of support and it’s been great to be able to represent Maryville that way.”
“It’s a real easy story to tell young people in Maryville, Missouri and really everywhere that this story’s going to touch. You want to see something done right, put on a Seattle Seahawks film and watch number 61,” said Sundell’s high school coach in Maryville Matt Webb. “When he breaks the huddle, the offensive line claps their hands and they all run to the line of scrimmage. That’s led by their offensive center, Jalen Sundell. When guys are blocking downfield and making those extra blocks, watch 61 from Seattle go do that on a daily basis, on a day, play in-play out basis. He’s not the biggest, he’s not the strongest, but he uses his athleticism to his advantage.”
All this winning in Sundell’s career has come down to the culture. He’s been a part of at each stop. He compares the Seattle Seahawks culture that head coach Mike Macdonald has brought to his time in the hound pound.
“The culture that Mike (Macdonald) has brought here is very similar to the programs that I’ve been in my whole life,” said Sundell. “Starting with Matt Webb in Maryville with the Spoofhounds in high school. He always was teaching us to do things the right way and show up on time and we’re working hard. There’s not a lot of rest days.”
“I remember us winning a state championship in 2017 and you’re sitting around a room full of all the class 3 coaches in Missouri and they’re like, well, who’s your best player? I’m like, well, our best player is an offensive lineman,” said Webb. “I’m like, yeah, let’s do it. Let’s make him the player of the Year. So, it’s kind of unique.”
For a small town guy that has done things the right way all his life to get where he is now. Webb says Sundell’s inspirational story has been filled with determination and grit, and it will be a story told for years to come.
“I really felt like he had an opportunity based on faith to go to Seattle just to try and get some practice reps, just to try and get cleared. Then get on film. In his first week of practice, I think he got 4 snaps at practice, and then a year and a half later, he’s the starting center in the Super Bowl. It’s an unbelievable story. I don’t want to say rags to riches because that’s not it. It’s a young man that’s been applied and had very intentional effort to get everything, to reap every reward that he deserves.”
The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots kick off in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, February 8th at 5:30 pm in San Francisco, California.
