Kyle Rote Jr.

Ancestors

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Biography

First American-born soccer superstar

Kyle, Jr. was born in 1950. He is the son of Kyle Rote, Sr. and Elizabeth Jeanette (Jamison) Rote. He married in 1972. He is still living.

Football (Soccer)

Kyle Rote Jr

Kyle served as the leading American in the North American Soccer League. (NASL) He drew considerable attention to soccer among American sports fans in the mid-1970s and was promoted as a home-grown American star the equal of European and South American soccer heroes. The Dallas Tornado of the NASL selected Kyle in the first round of the 1972 draft. In 1973, he became the first American ever to lead the league in scoring (and the only United States-born player to do so in the NASL's 17-year history) and was named the Rookie of the Year. Kyle's efforts made soccer a known entity in the United States starting in the 1970s.

The Superstar of the Superstars

Kyle entered ABC Broadcasting network’s made-for-TV sports contest, The Superstars, as America’s best-known soccer player in a publicity-starved sport. He left it in 1977 as a household name. His rivals included football greats OJ Simpson, Roger Staubach, and Lynn Swann, future baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and Pete Rose, NBA superstar John Havlicek and tennis legend Stan Smith, among others, all in the prime of their careers. In three of the four years Kyle competed in the Superstars, he won the competition.

Sources

• Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903-1997
• North American Soccer League, "Kyle Rote, Jr. Becomes First American Soccer Star". http://www.nasl.com/news/2015/08/27/throwback-thursday--kyle-rote-jr-becomes-first-american-soccer-star. Assessed March 6, 2022.
• Society for American Soccer History, Kyle Rote, Jr., https://www.ussoccerhistory.org/national-soccer-hall-of-fame-biographies/national-soccer-hall-of-fame-player-biographies/kyle-rote-jr/. Assessed March 6, 2022.
• The Guardian, "The forgotten story of ... Kyle Rote Jr, America's first soccer Superstar." https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/24/the-forgotten-story-of-kyle-rote-jr-americas-first-soccer-superstar. Assessed March 6, 2022.
• Kyle Rote, Jr., Inductee of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, https://www.nationalsoccerhof.com/players/kyle-rote-jr.html. Assessed March 6, 2022.
• Kyle Rote, Jr., Inductee of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Hall of Fame. http://hall.fca.org/2011/kyle-rote-jr/. Accessed March 20, 2022.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Kyle Rote, Jr
• Wikidata: Item Q2915998, en:Wikipedia