PORTLAND, Ore. — By the time Eryk Williamson touched down, it was only 12 hours before kickoff, but he wouldn't be playing. He wasn't officially on the Portland Timbers' roster, even though he'd joined the club 11 months earlier. It was Atlanta, it was December — it was the 2018 MLS Cup final. It was also the first time Williamson had seen his teammates in months.
"I know that right when I landed, a few guys ran into me," Williamson remembers about arriving at the team's hotel. "They were acting like they saw a ghost."
Instead of finishing his first professional season in Portland, Williamson was playing in Portugal, having gone on loan to C.