Purdy and Zakelj, meanwhile, haven’t migrated far from their initial paperwork-filled cafeteria table. Instead, 18 months later, the two sometimes carpool to work together and always eat breakfast in the same corner that’s become tradition for Niners quarterbacks and offensive linemen. Purdy and Zakelj will recap movies they’ve watched — “L.A. Confidential,” “Sicario” and “The Holdovers” lately — and exchange playful jabs that only roommates can.
“Brock will talk about how Nick doesn't come out of his room unless he smells food,” Allen said. “He'll stay in his room, lock the door, laying in bed. And then he smells food [and] all of a sudden pops up out of nowhere. It's usually when Brock's fiancée might be cooking something.
“Nick will just show up and be like, ‘You guys made me some, right?’”
Teammates aren’t safe from jabs at breakfast either, quarterback Sam Darnold said. Purdy and Zakelj team up.
“It’s like they usually pick one guy to make fun of that day,” Darnold told Yahoo Sports. “A lot of times it’s me, but [right guard Jon] Feliciano gets the brunt of it, too.
“They just make fun of people for the most random things.”
Rose laughed when Purdy and Zakelj rooming together made headlines this season.
Yes, it’s unusual for an NFL starting quarterback to live with a teammate. But Purdy and Zakelj’s current house veers from the shared-bedroom apartment some might have imagined.
“The whole media thing was just funny because they’re like ‘Brock Purdy has a roommate,’ acting like he’s slumming it out,” Rose said. “And I’m like ‘Dude, this house is beautiful.’ … They’ve got their own space, for sure. They’re not on top of each other.
“I don’t want to put all their business out there, but it’s not what people are making it out to be.”
Zakelj said “last year it was a slightly different situation” when they lived with a third teammate in a different place, though he, too, declined to detail further. Because to both Purdy and Zakelj, their house is less about luxury and more about space for friends and family to visit. Purdy’s fiancee, Jenna, and Zakelj’s girlfriend, May, are often in town. (Jenna also reminds them from afar to take out the trash Mondays, when in-season travel and trash day inconveniently overlap.) Their friends and family come through, too, for games of Qwirkle, solitaire and Settlers of Catan at the Purdy-Zakelj household.
Steaks and burgers are grilled, competitive cornhole games are played, and Purdy’s impersonations are not an uncommon source of entertainment.
Because the quarterback skilled at diagnosing defenses is also adept at diagnosing personal flair and impersonating voices and non-human sounds alike. Teammates say Purdy can imitate with striking accuracy the voices of his coaches, teammates and support staff. They’ve heard him shift to Family Guy voices and White Goodman from the movie, “Dodgeball”; to SpongeBob and even the sound of a police siren that sends Zakelj and Rose into fits of laughter.
“I'll do it sometimes when we're in the huddle or something to sort of just show them that Brock’s calm, he's cool and collected here,” Purdy said, speaking in third person. “He's joking around, so it's all good.”
That balance is one Purdy strikes intentionally, in the building and at home. Sometimes at the facility he’ll joke and impersonate those around him; other times he’ll lock in to metabolize an offense or deconstruct a defense. Sometimes at home Purdy picks Zakelj’s brain about the run play to which he’d audible; other times they’re decorating a Christmas tree and then joking about sending the team a Christmas card from them, and before long, there’s one in everybody’s locker.
“It’s been fun,” Purdy said. “He’s become one of my best friends."
Adds Zakelj: “It’s just kind two mid-20s guys, like, hanging out. We also just happen to play football.”
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