Jordan Morris: hometown hero, Seattle star, symbol for the future of MLS

To say Jordan Morris has enjoyed an unprecedented start to his professional career is probably a little unfair, considering the majority of his accomplishments came during his days as an amateur athlete.

An NCAA championship with Stanford earned Morris, 21, a rare U.S. Men's National Team call-up, making him the first active college player to earn a nod at the international level. He won the 2016 Hermann Trophy, garnered avid interest from his hometown team, and even earned a trial with German outfit Werder Bremen.

(Courtesy: @SoundersFC)

Morris finally went pro Thursday, signing a lucrative, record-breaking Homegrown Player contract with the Seattle Sounders.

Seattle is home for Morris; it's where he was born. And, for Morris, the Sounders have always been sort of like family; his father, Dr. Michael Morris, has been the team's medical director since the club's inception in 2009.

Morris is more than just a local kid coming through the youth ranks, however. His career path, both for club and country, is symbolic of the shift in collective mentality around soccer in North America.

In a year that held an unprecedentedly lackluster MLS SuperDraft (teams actually opted to pass on selections in the later rounds), Morris' story is a taste of the future as MLS teams are starting to ditch the draft and look, instead, into their own backyards.

To be fair, if the Sounders hadn't held Morris' discovery rights, he would have been the first overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. It's safe to say he would have easily earned a Generation Adidas contract and the Chicago Fire probably wouldn't have traded their pick to New York City FC.

Still, though, the New York Red Bulls signed six Homegrown Players in the 2016 offseason; FC Dallas made the MLS Cup semifinals with anywhere from five to seven of its regular starting players coming out of its own academy; the league invested $125,000 per year over two years in a one-time cash injection specifically earmarked for Homegrown Player signings.

Homegrown Players are the future of MLS. The SuperDraft isn't as important anymore.

(Courtesy: Werder Bremen)

Morris' decision to go pro attracted attention on a different scale. He was immediately identified by Werder Bremen as worth watching and invited in for a week-long trial. The club's CEO, Thomas Eichin, was impressed with him - so much so, Morris was reportedly offered a contract with the German side.

But that deal never materialized; Eichin said Morris was feeling homesick.

The pull of Seattle, of donning the lime green shirt he had supported all his life, was just too strong.

Morris joined Stanford to pursue not just a professional career, but also to study in a top university - to the point that Morris chose to forego an earlier leap into the professional game in order to continue his education.

He won't be handed a dream move without some more hard work, though: He'll need to displace one of Clint Dempsey or Obafemi Martins from the starting XI to find consistent playing time. Those two make up the most dynamic and efficient striker duo in MLS.

Morris could be used as a left winger; he is an incredibly pacy player with a powerful right foot, and isn't the sort of striker who plays with his back to goal anyway. Head coach Sigi Schmid could take advantage of that speed out wide, pushing Martins to the opposite flank with Dempsey up top in a 4-3-3.

More likely, Morris will be used as a backup to Dempsey, and eventually replace the famed U.S. forward in a few years' time. Regardless of the competition, Dempsey is looking forward to playing alongside his new teammate.

"There's always room for quality players in a team," Dempsey told reporters. "The trick as a manager is to figure out how to bring the best out of your team."

The work starts soon, but for today, Morris is just happy to be home.