Barely 18 months ago, Jordan Morris suffered his second ACL rupture in three years. Now, back to full fitness and a vital member of both the Seattle Sounders and the United States men’s national team, he opens up on his rehab and recovery.
The 27-year-old Washington native explains, in his own words, how his life spent managing Type 1 diabetes prepared him for the challenges of returning from multiple serious knee injuries and expands on the array of emotions he’s experienced as he nears his goal of playing in a World Cup.
With the U.S. men’s national team inside the muddy Estadio Cuscatlan in the CONCACAF Nations League two months ago, I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about the last time I was in El Salvador.
The memory from that trip — a CONCACAF Champions League match with in 2018 with the Sounders — will never go away. My night ended as my dad, the team’s chief medical doctor, led me off the field and broke the news that I’d be out for the season. I’d torn my ACL. It was a devastating injury that had me questionining what would come of my career. In hindsight, it’s also a moment that made me further appreciate what has happened since.
But you try not to think about those things during a game, especially since I suffered another ACL tear last year and was still working to rebuild my confidence after a long, grueling rehab process.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.)
You always have to be ready when your name is called, and that’s where my focus was when I started warming up in the second half. It was a wild game. We had just gotten a red card a few minutes before and were down 1-0. The conditions were crazy. The rain and the mud made it an interesting game and as I was standing up there, ready to go in, our opponents got a red card too. My mindset was to help any way I could, but we obviously needed to score a goal.
In the 91st minute, my opportunity came. Weston McKennie had a good header that the keeper saved and it spilled out to the left side of the field. Jesus Ferreira ran over and played a ball back to Luca de la Torre and I just tried to recycle my run and get ready. Then Luca put a great ball in the box and fortunately I was able to finish it.
First of all, it was great for the team. Tying the score and getting out of there with a result was important, but when I was walking back after the initial excitement wore off, the whole journey of last year and the rehab and everything was going through my head. It had been a long time since I had scored for the national team, and so to be able to score in a big game was really exciting. When I score goals like that, I kind of black out. I just get so excited and I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I remember running over to the bench and the whole bench came out and it was a big group celebration.
In the locker room after the game, the guys were chanting my name. I think they recognized my journey of last year and everything I went through. To have that group of guys provide all the support meant a lot. I’m a pretty shy guy, so it can be hard to take in the moment, but it was awesome. I learned after my first ACL tear that it takes time to build confidence coming back, and that goal was important for that.
The second ACL tear was even tougher than the first. The damage to my knee was a little more extensive and the situation was more difficult. I had just gotten overseas to Swansea City and was really enjoying myself. At the beginning of my career there was a lot of speculation about whether I was going go to Europe or not. I decided to play for Seattle and have absolutely loved my time here, but it was still a goal and dream of mine to play in Europe.
Playing in those qualifiers was a great experience. To be able to take part in the last six games and then be in the locker room for the celebrations with the team after officially qualifying in Costa Rica was such a surreal feeling. It was something you dream of being a part of.
The group is incredibly close and I have some great friends on the team, so to be able to cap off that journey together was amazing. I remember calling my wife from the field and we both were getting a little emotional talking about the journey of the past year, knowing that we had just qualified for the World Cup.
With all of that going on, we also had a lot we wanted to accomplish in Seattle.
During our preseason, our goal was to win the CONCACAF Champions League. We had some great performances to get to the final, and for a kid from Seattle, seeing the stadium full like that for a massive final that no MLS team has won before was a pretty emotional experience. I remember just walking out for warm-ups and seeing the crowd and feeling the energy. When we were scoring the goals, just knowing in the second half that we were going to win the game, it was surreal.
The rest of the year is very important. In Seattle, we’ve struggled a bit as a group since winning CCL. The whole focus of the team is getting back on track and getting ourselves into the playoffs. From there, we know we can go on a run, but we are in a tough fight. This is a team that doesn’t quit and I know we will keep fighting to the end of the season to get over the line.
For myself personally, it’s continuing to work hard and improve every day to be in the best form possible leading into the World Cup. My mindset every day is to continue pushing and working as hard as I can to keep improving to try and be a part of that group.
