Jordan Morris

Jordan Perry Morris (born October 26, 1994) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger or forward for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC and the United States national team.

He grew up on Mercer Island, Washington and joined the Sounders youth academy before playing college soccer at Stanford University.

Morris won the Hermann Trophy in his senior season at Stanford and was called up to the United States national team, scoring in a friendly against Mexico.

In his sophomore year, Morris helped lead Stanford to its first Pac-12 championship since 2001.

In his junior year, Morris scored 13 goals and had 3 assists.

He led the Cardinal to both the Pac-12 and the NCAA Championship.

In the NCAA tournament, Morris scored 5 of Stanford's total of 12 goals.

In the championship game against Clemson, Morris scored his first of two goals in the game only 87 seconds into the contest.

Morris, from Mercer Island, Washington, began his youth career with Eastside FC, where he played from 2004 to 2012, from U11 to U17, with the Eastside FC B94 Red team, coached by Dan Strom, and helped the team to six of its seven Washington State titles as well as two third-place finishes at the US Youth Soccer National Championships in 2011 and 2012: he was named to the Best XI in 2011, and was the Golden Ball winner in 2012.

In his freshman year with the Cardinal, Morris appeared in all 21 matches and led all Pac-12 freshman with seven assists and 19 points and tied for the lead with six goals and helped lead his team to their first NCAA Tournament since 2009 where they would eventually fall 1–0 to #2 seed Washington in the Round of 16.

He went on to be named first team All-Pac-12 that year.

Morris also spent time with Seattle Sounders FC U-23 in the Premier Development League.

He then went on to score in his next three consecutive games, matching the Seattle rookie scoring record, his next goal then surpassed the record that had been set by Steve Zakuani in 2009.

The Sounders won their first MLS Cup after a run from ninth place into fourth made possible by Morris's goalscoring and contributions from Nicolas Lodeiro, a new midseason acquisition made by Seattle.

Morris was also named NSCAA Washington State Player of the Year and NSCAA High School All-American in 2012.

He joined the Sounders FC youth academy and played in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy for one season.

On February 6, 2012, Morris signed a letter of intent to play college soccer at Stanford University.

Morris was named MLS Rookie of the Year with his 12 regular season goals, the second-highest for a league rookie behind Cyle Larin in 2015.

He had also scored in the Western Conference Final second leg against the Colorado Rapids while sick with an undisclosed virus and injured.

He signed for Seattle's senior team in 2016 as a Homegrown Player, winning an MLS Cup in his rookie season and a second title in 2019.

Morris was loaned to EFL Championship side Swansea City in early 2021, but returned after four matches due to an ACL tear.

On January 8, 2016, Morris was awarded the Hermann Trophy as the best player in NCAA Division I soccer.

In January 2016, Morris trained with German club Werder Bremen at their winter camp, which Bremen chief executive Thomas Eichin described as "an opportunity for us to get to know the player better."

Later in January, Bremen extended Morris' trial who then played in a friendly match against Inter Baku PIK and recorded an assist.

Bremen offered a contract to Morris and Eichin expressed confidence that they would sign him, but Morris turned down the German club's offer in favor of returning to play in the United States.

After winning the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, there was speculation that Morris would begin to play professionally.

Coach Jürgen Klinsmann stated that Morris "obviously has to" turn pro.

His decision to stay at Stanford University for a third year was criticized, as was his decision to play professionally in the United States instead of Europe.

On January 5, 2016, Morris announced he decided to forgo his senior season at Stanford to join a professional team.

It was widely speculated that Morris would sign with Seattle Sounders FC, the club for which his father works, and also holds his amateur rights.

On January 21, Morris signed with Seattle Sounders FC, being given MLS's highest-ever Homegrown Player contract worth roughly $250,000 a year.

He joined the Sounders' preseason training camp in Arizona, debuting on February 9 in a friendly against Celaya F.C..

On February 23, Morris made his professional debut against Club América in the CONCACAF Champions League, starting the match.

The following week, he debuted in the Sounders' first Major League Soccer (MLS) match of the season against Sporting Kansas City.

Morris scored his first MLS goal for the Sounders on April 16, 2016, against the Philadelphia Union.

On February 22, 2018, while playing in El Salvador against Santa Tecla in the Sounders' first match of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League, Morris collapsed from a non-contact injury in the 85th minute and was later diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

He was reported to likely miss 6–9 months and began rehabilitation after knee surgery.

After missing the entirety of the 2018 MLS season, Morris was signed to a five-year contract extension with the Sounders in December 2018.

Morris returned for the 2019 season and scored 10 goals during the regular season and a hat-trick in the playoffs to help the Sounders win a second MLS Cup title.

He was named MLS Comeback Player of the Year for his recovery.