Jordan Morris broke onto the scene in MLS rather abruptly. The winger/forward born in Seattle, Washington played college soccer at Stanford. In 2016, Morris received the Hermann Award, given to the best player in college soccer, effectively the Heisman for soccer. Morris went abroad to train with Germany's Werder Bremen, where he had a contract extended to him. He ended up declining, wanting to play in the United States. On January 21, 2016, Morris signed with the Seattle Sounders on a massive $250K per year Homegrown contract. Before Morris even went pro, he scored a goal against Mexico for the USMNT while he was a sophomore in college.
At the outset of the 2016 campaign, Morris became a regular starter right away. After going without a goal in his opening 9 games, he could not stop scoring. On April 16th, Morris controlled the ball and calmly poked his first MLS goal past Andre Blake. In the next match at Colorado, he scraped a consolation goal into the bottom left corner. In the following game, Morris forced an 88th minute winner past the Columbus Crew. He scored in a fourth straight match via the deflection from long range.
Morris curled a beautiful equalizer at BMO Field in an MLS Cup preview. He smashed a shot to the far post in a 5-0 victory over FC Dallas. He scored his first MLS brace against LA Galaxy in late September. He guided his first goal into the very top left corner. He added some cushion with his left footed shot later on. Jordan Morris finished his first season with 12 goals and 4 assists. As the fourth seed, Seattle beat SKC and FC Dallas. In the WCF, Morris followed up a rebound and scored against the Colorado Rapids in leg one. In the second leg, he scored again, clipping one over the keeper. In MLS Cup, Seattle defeated Toronto FC in penalties. Morris hoisted the trophy in his rookie year. It goes without saying that he was also named the 2016 MLS Rookie of the Year.
In 2017, Morris did not find nearly as much success as he did in his rookie year. He opened his account with a match-winning header over the New York Red Bulls. He took an assist from Clint Dempsey to score his second of the season against the Galaxy. He starred for the US at the Gold Cup, scoring 3 goals, including the goal that won them the trophy. Seattle returned to the final against Toronto FC for a second consecutive season, but Morris was not much involved. He picked up a muscle injury that forced him to miss 12 games, and he played just 19 minutes in the 2-0 loss in the final.
In February of 2018, Morris suffered a massive setback. Before the MLS season even started, he tore his ACL in a CONCACAF Champions League matchup with Santa Tecla. He was set to miss the entire season with the injury.
His return to play was all sorts of emotional. It had been 448 days since Jordan Morris played in MLS Cup 2017. Morris curled home the eventual match-winner against FC Cincinnati in his first game back. He was not done there, as he smashed his brace into the upper 90. It was a roaring comeback for the young Sounder. He chipped the Chicago keeper two matches later, while also dishing out an assist in the match. In an August home match with Sporting Kansas City, Morris notched another brace. He made a run and rolled home a goal off a beautiful Nicolas Lodeiro ball. The high press made another goal happen for Morris as he ran in behind 1v1. With both teams on a red card, Morris scored a 94' goal to defeat San Jose for his 10th goal on the year. Seattle finished second. In the first playoff matchup, Morris went nuclear. He scored a left footed finish in the first half to kick things off. In the second half, he scored while having a seat on the turf, then completed a playoff hat trick with a 113th minute game-winning header. Seattle went back to MLS Cup to face Toronto FC for the third time since 2016. They came out victorious, 3-1, and Morris won his second trophy. Morris was named the 2019 Comeback Player of the Year.
In 2020, Jordan Morris was an MVP candidate. Morris came on at halftime in a March 1st match against Chicago, and scored a brace. Then came the world shutdown. Morris scored in the MLS is Back Tournament against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Back in the normal regular season, he scored another brace, against LAFC. He rounded Kenneth Vermeer for the first, before tapping one in at the back post. On September 10th, Morris practically walked in behind San Jose to open the scoring. This was the first of many in a historic win. Morris assisted 3 of the remaining 6 Seattle goals, and they won 7-1 in the end. On Decision Day, he scored against San Jose again in another blowout victory, 4-1. Seattle finished tied for first, but ended up second in the West. In the opening postseason game, he added a goal to defeat LAFC. Seattle made it all the way back to the Cup, but this time lost 3-0 to Lucas Zelarayan's Columbus. Morris was named to the 2020 Best XI.
In 2021, Morris had a nightmarish repeat of 2018. In January, to the delight of many USMNT fans, Morris finally tried his luck in Europe. He went on loan with Swansea City. It could not have gone worse. He tore his left ACL in just his fourth match there. He returned to Seattle, where he somehow managed to return before the season ended. He subbed in for 30 and 45 minutes respectively in the final two matches of the regular season. In the first round of the playoffs, Morris played 104 minutes right away, but they would lose to Real Salt Lake in penalties.
Just as he had in 2019, Morris returned to form in 2022 like there was no injury at all. It was statically the worst MLS season in Sounders history, but they'll be happy with their CCL win. Morris helped defeat Club Leon with a late goal against the Mexican side in CCL. He scored his first MLS goal in the following match, scoring from the ground. It was his first MLS goal in year and a half. In the first leg of the series against NYCFC, Morris rifled a shot home to advance in the Champions League. In May, he grabbed a secondary assist in the CONCACAF Champions League final against Pumas. It was yet another trophy for Jordan Morris and Seattle. He was named to the Best XI of the tournament. He kept it up in MLS play, scoring a header against SKC in late June. His final goal of the season was a goal against the LA Galaxy. He was somehow only named to his first All-Star team in 2022. He was also named to the 2022 MLS Best XI. Morris was named to Gregg Berhalter's 2022 World Cup roster for the United States. He played three total minutes, coming in at the end of the Wales and Netherlands matchups.
In 2023, the Sounders had an opportunity to go to the Club World Cup, the first MLS team to do so. They lost late in 1-0 fashion to Al Ahly. Jordan Morris' start to this season was absolutely incredible. He scored almost all his goals in the opening months of the year. He opened his account with a strange low diving header against Colorado. The new blonde hairstyle helped him to a brace in the home opener. In the next one, he scored a header against Real Salt Lake. Over a third of his goals came in a March 25th match against Sporting Kansas City. SKC took the 1-0 lead, and Morris was not too happy about that. He equalized in the 23rd minute. Chu gave him another assist as he scored his second at 54'. At the back post, it became a hat trick in minute 69. He then added a fourth with a rising header on yet another Leo Chu assist. In the next match, Chu slid a low cross for another Morris goal. He barely scored the rest of the way comparatively.
It seemed as if Morris would compete for the Golden Boot in 2023, but that was not the case. It took ten games for him to score his next goal, who else but Leo Chu with the cross. It took another ten games exactly for Morris to score again, as he put Seattle up 2-0 over Monterrey in five minutes. They lost 4-2 and saw their Leagues Cup run end. Most recently, he scored on October 4th, powering a header in against the LA Galaxy, a team he has scored on quite often. Seattle returned to the second seed, and will have home field advantage against FC Dallas in a best-of-three series. Morris was named a 2023 MLS All-Star, the second straight year on the team. Jordan Morris has been hampered with setbacks and doubters for his entire career, and he has managed to come back and prove them all wrong every single time. He will look for his his third MLS Cup in the 2023 postseason. Morris comes in at #48.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2023 | SEA | 1,980 | 11 | 1 |
2022 | SEA | 2,329 | 7 | 4 |
2021 | SEA | 75 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | SEA | 1,724 | 10 | 8 |
2019 | SEA | 2,047 | 10 | 7 |
2017 | SEA | 1,801 | 3 | 1 |
2016 | SEA | 2,856 | 12 | 4 |
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