If you want to look for storylines ahead of Saturday’s MLS Cup final, you won’t have to look very far to find star players on the heavily decorated if not underpaid Philadelphia Union squad.
Jack Elliott’s name won’t be one of those names, but his atypical path to professional soccer and role anchoring one of the stingiest back lines in league history deserves recognition and admiration.
Elliott was famously passed over and over again in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, landing with the Union with the 77th overall pick in the fourth round. Not much was expected of the lanky Scottish defender out of West Virginia University and the thinking was he’d get a chance to prove himself with Bethlehem Steel to try and win a first team contract.