Jordan Morris is going home.
The USMNT forward and former Stanford star, who earlier this month announced he would be forgoing his senior season to pursue a professional career, signed a Homegrown Player contract with the Seattle Sounders Tuesday morning.
Welcome Home. pic.twitter.com/5cY6rRUsEK
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 21, 2016
It’s good to be home! #seattlelove pic.twitter.com/X4mBwkEkMj
— Jordan Morris (@JmoSmooth13) January 21, 2016
“Today we’re excited and proud to officially welcome Jordan back into the Sounders FC organization,” Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer said at a press conference this morning. “Jordan and his family have a long history with our organization, so it’s a pleasure to make him the seventh Homegrown Player in club history. As one of the most promising U.S. Soccer prospects in recent memory, we’re thrilled to have him join the club as we move into our eighth season in Major League Soccer.”
Morris had received offers from the Sounders over the past few years but declined them, choosing to continue his career on The Farm through his junior season, which culminated in the best possible way: winning the NCAA championship, the program’s first-ever national title. A few weeks later, Morris would also be awarded the MAC Hermann Trophy, given to collegiate soccer’s best player.
The new kid on the block ? pic.twitter.com/ShZGDjnH2A
“I obviously appreciate that [Seattle] was interested in me after my freshman and sophomore years,” Morris said. “After my sophomore year I was considering [signing], but I had some unfinished business I wanted to accomplish. I feel I had a commitment to my teammates at Stanford to come back and try and help them win a national championship.”
After announcing his decision to go pro, speculation soared that Morris might choose to play in Europe after he had briefly trained with the Bundesliga club Werder Bremen, but Morris would go on to reject the club’s offer and instead sign with the Sounders, his hometown team.
Morris, a native of Mercer Island, Washington, had also played for the Sounders’ Academy, and his father has been the team’s Chief Medical Doctor for many years.
“It was a great experience, but I always knew I wanted to come home,” Morris said of training with Werder Bremen. “My time over there was a good experience and a cool one, but it reaffirmed my belief that I wanted to play in my hometown — play in front of the 45,000 fans at CenturyLink and be around my family and be in my hometown.
“It’s just a huge honor to be back here. I’m excited to be home and to get going.”
The contract that Morris, who has also earned seven caps with the senior national team, has signed with the Sounders is also the most lucrative Homegrown Player contract in MLS history. He is the fourth Stanford player to make his way to the MLS after this past season, as former teammates Brandon Vincent, Eric Verso and Ty Thompson were also recently drafted in the MLS SuperDraft over the past week.
Sup @MLS? pic.twitter.com/OIwTc99bVq
— StanfordMen’sSoccer (@StanfordMSoccer) January 21, 2016