It has been over 10 months since the last time Jordan Morris took the pitch for the Seattle Sounders.
Morris, who has blossomed into one of Major League Soccer’s brightest stars since signing with the Rave Green as a Homegrown Player in 2016, last played for the Sounders in the 2020 MLS Cup final. After several years starring with his hometown club, to the tune of 41 goals and 23 assists in 121 MLS matches, Morris went on loan with EFL Championship side Swansea City.
The Mercer Island native’s adventure into European soccer was cut short when he suffered a serious ACL injury with Swansea in mid-February. It was his second major knee injury following a torn ACL at the start of the 2018 season, which he followed up by winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2019 and became a finalist for MVP in 2020 while leading Seattle to back-to-back MLS Cup appearances.
Fast forward eight months, and Morris is on the precipice of returning to the field for the Seattle Sounders after having been cleared by his doctors.
“It’s been a long, long year,” Morris told media on Friday. “Obviously, going through my second recovery, there’s been a lot of ups and downs. I’m just excited to be back and at the point where I’m at now, ready to play. It feels great.”
When Morris first suffered the injury, the conventional wisdom at the time was that he would not return to competitive action until the 2022 season. Undaunted by going through the grueling rehab process for the second time in four years, Morris set his sights on coming back during the 2021 MLS season.
“Fortunately, I’m feeling good here at around the eight-month mark,” noted Morris. “But I definitely made it a goal to try and play again this season and be back around this time to help the team win another championship.”
Monday’s Western Conference tilt with the LA Galaxy (7:00 p.m. PT; TUDN, Twitter, FOX 13+, Prime Video, 1090 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS), which is Seattle’s final home match of the regular season, is the first occasion in which Morris will be eligible to play.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic and his ACL injury, Morris has not played in front of fans at Lumen Field since March 7, 2020. The prospect of playing in front of a packed crowd for his hometown club has served as extra motivation during his recovery.
“It’s been so long since I’ve played a game,” he said. “I’ve watched way too much from the sideline this year. So, I’m just excited to be back out on the field and playing in front of the fans again.”
After so much time away from the field, Morris is understandably ecstatic about officially making his return from injury.
“I was telling my wife, I’ve woken up kind of like when you’re a kid on your birthday or on Christmas morning, with just that excited feeling in my stomach – and when I was driving by the stadium on the way to training. That’s what you think about when you’re going through a recovery like this: that first game back, that moment that you’re stepping back on the field. The fact that it’s so close now is pretty surreal because it’s been a long year. This whole week I’ve been really excited every morning waking up.”
Morris and the Sounders will face off against the LA Galaxy (7:00 p.m. PT; TUDN, Twitter, FOX 13+, Prime Video, 1090 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS) on Monday night at Lumen Field in the final home match of the 2021 MLS regular season.
