Photo courtesy of Instagram (@MichaelSeatonJr)
Seaton arrived March 12, 2018. Strong, quick, and unafraid on the pitch, he was the perfect number nine. Off the pitch, he was kind, positive, and thankful. Between the two sides of the Jamaican, he quickly became a fan favorite.
His stats were nothing to scoff at either. He regularly tracked back to be the first defender. He regularly found space in the box. And of course, he regularly found the back of the net. Against St. Louis FC in the 2018 playoffs, his ability to draw a red card and score a hat trick elevated him to something of a club hero. Just a few days later… he agreed to a contract extension, committing himself to the club through the end of 2019.
His willingness to track back saw him score the club’s first goal of 2019, pouncing on a lazy backpass and beating Reno’s JT Marcinkowski to bring OC back into the game.
Still, commentators regularly questioned if he could perform as well as he did in 2018, pointing to the absence of Thomas Enevoldsen as some sort of reason for Seaton to fall to pieces.
Through the rough early months of 2019, Seaton continued, finding space and scoring… and when things went poorly, he took ownership for poor performances and continued to work. He was nearly always the first to thank fans, and he was the first (and only) player to apologize after the team hurried off of the pitch against Los Dos in May.
And then he was right back to proving his doubters wrong. Commentators voices, raising in anticipation: “Seaton…” and breaking at “GOAL!”
He scored with his head. He scored with his feet. He scored from set-pieces. He scored from the run of play. He provided for his teammates, linking up well with Darwin Jones. And when July arrived, Seaton became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, scoring once and assisting twice in a 4-1 rout of Reno.
It was his second consecutive season with a double-digit goal tally. He proved he could do it again. He proved he could do it himself.
Seaton’s spirit carried the club through a six-match winning streak and back into the playoff places, ultimately finishing fifth after 34 games. Even down 6-1 in Utah, the striker still never gave up, and he was rewarded with a late goal in extra time.
Michael Seaton now moves on, having made 62 appearances for the Orange and Black, tallying 28 goals and 12 assists. We wish him nothing but the best. May Bully Season continue…