Nkosi Tafari

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.

Nkosi Tafari
Tafari with FC Dallas in 2021
Personal information
Full name Nkosi Tafari Burgess
Date of birth (1997-03-23) March 23, 1997
Place of birth Manhattan, New York, United States
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team 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 69 (3)
2020–2021 North Texas SC 8 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of August 4, 2023

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. On August 26, 2023, Tafari scored the game winning goal in a 1-0 game against rivals . The goal came at 96:49 the latest game-winning goal in club history.[8]

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".[9] He is of Ethiopian descent through his mother.[10]

References
  1. "Nkosi Tafari Burgess". FC Dallas. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  2. "Nkosi Tafari - Men's Soccer". University of Connecticut Athletics.
  3. "Nkosi Tafari - 2019 - Men's Soccer". Seattle University.
  4. Dallas, F. C. "Nkosi Tafari". FC Dallas.
  5. Epperley, Drew (January 9, 2020). "FC Dallas selects two in the first round of the 2020 MLS Draft". Big D Soccer.
  6. "FC Dallas Signs 2020 SuperDraft No. 14 Overall Pick Nkosi Tafari | FC Dallas".
  7. "North Texas SC vs. Forward Madison FC - July 25, 2020 | USLLeagueOne.com". www.uslleagueone.com.
  8. "NewTweet". X.com.
  9. "Nkosi Tafari: Why I Chose to Go by My Middle Name | FC Dallas".
  10. "MLS : 87 joueurs africains engagés". beIN SPORTS France.
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