Kyle Rote Jr 1977 (Guest)

I have recently found out that Dallas Tornado star Kyle Rote Jr made a guest appearance for the Rowdies against China, in an Exhibition Game in 1977.

Kyle Rote Jr. was born December 25th, 1950 in Dallas, Texas. The son of Kyle Rote, an All-American college football player at Southern Methodist University who played in the National Football League for the New York Giants.

Kyle Jr graduated from Highland Park High School in Dallas, TX in 1968. He briefly played college football at Oklahoma State before he transferred to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he played soccer and track and field. He originally played soccer to stay in shape during the offseason, but became hooked on the game and started playing it full-time.

Graduated from Sewanee with honors in Psychology.

He joined the Dallas Tornado in 1973 and led the league in scoring his rookie year. He scored 10 goals with 10 assists in 1973 and was named Rookie of the Year.

He remained with the Tornado up until the end of the 1978 season, making a total of 120 appearances, scoring 42 goals and 34 assists with a grand total of 118 points.

He was obtained by the Houston Hurricane for the 1979 season, where he made 23 appearances and scored 1 goal and 4 assists.

Kyle won the made-for-television "Superstars" competition three times in a four-year period, making him arguably the best all-around athlete in American sports in the 1970s.

Kyle Rote Jr is the founder and CEO of Athletic Resource Management, Inc. representing professional and post-collegiate athletes and coaches in football and basketball. He married Mary Lynne Lykins and had four children: Will, John, Josie, and Ben. He also has two nephews, Nate and Zach, and a niece, Marcie Lykins.

Many thanks to Jan Reinertsen for the Rowdies photo of Kyle.