Nkosi Tafari
![]() Tafari with FC Dallas in 2021 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nkosi Tafari Burgess | ||
Date of birth | March 23, 1997 | ||
Place of birth | Manhattan, New York, United States | ||
Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | FC Dallas | ||
Number | 17 | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2018 | UConn Huskies | 46 | (1) |
2019 | Seattle Redhawks | 20 | (1) |
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2020– | FC Dallas | 49 | (1) |
2020– | North Texas SC | 8 | (2) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 15, 2022 |
Nkosi Tafari Burgess (born March 23, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club FC Dallas.
Career
College
Tafari began playing college soccer at the University of Connecticut in 2015. He redshirted his Freshman season, before going on to make 46 appearances for the Huskies, scoring 1 goal and tallying 1 assist between 2016 and 2018.[2] In 2019, Tafari played his senior season at Seattle University, making 20 appearances and again tallying a single goal and an assist on his way to been named WAC Defensive Player of the Year and United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team.[3][4]
Professional
On January 9, 2020, Tafari was selected 14th overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas.[5] He signed with the club on February 18, 2020.[6]
He made his professional debut on October 3, 2020, starting for Dallas' USL League One affiliate side North Texas SC in a fixture against Fort Lauderdale CF.[7]
He scored his first professional goal with FC Dallas on August 21, 2021, against the Houston Dynamo.
Personal
In 2021, Tafari announced he would go by his middle name Tafari instead of Burgess, choosing to distance himself from the name that been "passed down from master to slave" and saying "I want to get back to my own roots and be proud of being African".[8]
References
- ^ "Nkosi Tafari Burgess". FC Dallas. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ^ "Nkosi Tafari - Men's Soccer". University of Connecticut Athletics.
- ^ "Nkosi Tafari - 2019 - Men's Soccer". Seattle University.
- ^ "Nkosi Tafari | FC Dallas".
- ^ Epperley, Drew (January 9, 2020). "FC Dallas selects two in the first round of the 2020 MLS Draft". Big D Soccer.
- ^ "FC Dallas Signs 2020 SuperDraft No. 14 Overall Pick Nkosi Tafari | FC Dallas".
- ^ "North Texas SC vs. Forward Madison FC - July 25, 2020 | USLLeagueOne.com". www.uslleagueone.com.
- ^ "Nkosi Tafari: Why I Chose to Go by My Middle Name | FC Dallas".
External links
- Nkosi Tafari | FC Dallas FC Dallas bio
- Nkosi Tafari - 2019 - Men's Soccer University of Seattle bio
- Nkosi Tafari - Men's Soccer UConn bio
- Nkosi Tafari at Major League Soccer
- Articles with short description
- Use mdy dates from December 2021
- MLS player ID not in Wikidata
- 1997 births
- American soccer players
- Association football defenders
- FC Dallas draft picks
- FC Dallas players
- Living people
- North Texas SC players
- People from Deer Park, New York
- Seattle Redhawks men's soccer players
- Soccer players from New York (state)
- UConn Huskies men's soccer players
- USL League One players
- 21st-century African-American sportspeople
- Major League Soccer players
- 21st-century African-American men