Seahawks’ Zabel Talks About The Important Role Ag Plays For Him

He’s played on championship football teams at the high school, college, and professional levels and gives credit to being a fifth-generation farmer for part of that success. Grey Zabel is a Pierre, SD native, Seattle Seahawks rookie offensive guard, and 2026 Super Bowl champion.

Zabel said that, over the years, he’s learned what the best return on investment in agriculture really is.

“Best return on investment in agriculture is yourself," Zabel said. "That's your mind, your body, your soul, your spirit, and everything in between. I think I say I'm 24 years young, but as I'm kind of having to grow up at a rapid rate here, I'm starting to realize, like the greatest thing about agriculture is you get to be your own boss. You get to look at something and you get to view it in two ways. You get to pick your attitude, your work ethic. There's days I wake up and I'm like, no shot, I'm going to the farm today. Like that stuff can wait till tomorrow. A few hours goes by and you're like, all right, it needs to be done today. And that mentality of being the best that you can possibly be.”

Zabel said your attitude makes a difference, especially in challenging times.

“I don't know who told me this, but it was the greatest thing ever," he said. "It's either look at a drought two ways, another day without rain, or one day closer to a good rain. And I think in agriculture, there's a lot to be said about that because everyone has them wherever you come from. The old boys in the coffee shop that are saying how dry it is, there's not enough rain, we're not going to grow a good crop. But I think there needs to be a new light to be shed on of things of saying, well, you know what, we got what we got, let's do what we can with it and grow the best crop possible and have the outlook of it's not, we're one day closer to a drought. It's one day closer to a good rain that allows us to go and be the best human being we possibly could be.”

Zabel also compared a fence line to the line of scrimmage.

“And on one side, you got yourself and who you are, how you got there, what you did to get there, what made you successful, how hard you work, everything you've done in preparation to go out and win that line of scrimmage or win that play," Zabel said. "But you look across the other line of scrimmage and you see a guy, okay. You have no idea where he's from. You don't know how he got there. You don't know what it took for him to get there. You don't know the sacrifices he made or what he does in his free time or what kind of is his driver, his why. And then you look in agriculture, it's the same way. This fence line's dividing. Two fields. On one side, you don't know what that farmer's going through, what the cash rent he's paying, how much he's putting down in fertilizer, the debt payments he has to make, what he's leasing or owning. All you got is just your side.”

Zabel says he plans to continue working on his family’s farm in the years ahead. Zabel gave the keynote address during the first day of the South Dakota Governor’s Agricultural Summit in Pierre.

Zabel was the starting left guard for the Seahawks last season and was a key part in their 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60.