Let’s take a quick look at some of the things Seattle Sounders forward Jordan Morris has won in the past 12 months alone.
NCAA College Cup? Check.
MAC Hermann Trophy? Check.
MLS Rookie of the Year? Check.
MLS Cup? Yup, it's time to add that one to the list too.
So...what exactly has the past year been like for one of the game's brightest stars?
“It’s been unbelievable,” Morris told reporters after the Sounders beat Toronto in Saturday’s dramatic MLS Cup final. “I’ve said that in all of the interviews. I just say it’s been unbelievable. As a kid growing up, you can never really dream of that happening. But again, all credit to my teammates.
“My teammates at Stanford when we were all there were family. We won that championship as a team and coming here, we won it as a team as well. We had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of people counted us out. A lot of people counted us out before this game started.”
Saturday's game wasn't the best one for Morris, at least not by his standards.
After a great playoff run, the standout rookie finished with zero shots and zero chances created vs. Toronto and came out at the start of the second half of extra time due to cramps.
And it should be noted that the entire year itself wasn’t always for smooth for Morris, who had trouble getting going early in the MLS season and was snubbed by then-USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann for the final Copa America Centenario roster.
Did that snub perhaps motivate him to help spearhead the stunning turnaround in Seattle?
“When you get left off a big tournament like that, it’s tough,” he said. “So it definitely gave me some fuel to my fire to keep pushing and get better, so hopefully I can get called into the next tournament like that.”
More than anything, Morris lauded his Sounders teammates for continuing to believe throughout the season and gave a special nod to goalkeeper Stefan Frei for “an unbelievable save” when it counted most Saturday.
The hometown kid also heaped praise on the Seattle fans, many of whom will gather on the streets for Tuesday’s victory parade.
“It’s going to be unreal, I think,” Morris said. “The fans deserve this. We did this for them. The city of Seattle deserves this — such an amazing sports city. And the support that we get at every single home game, it’s unreal. And you see how many came out to Toronto to watch our game. We really have the best fans in the league. A lot of people say that but I truly believe we have the best fans in the league and they deserve this.
“So the parade will be as much for them as it is for us. And I’m sure they’ll come out in numbers like they always do.”
