Jorge Rodriguez was a defender that had two different stints with the club spanning 6 seasons. He scored 25 goals in that time, still top 10 in club history. He is also in the top 10 in games played, starts, and assists for Dallas. The El Salvadorian, nicknamed, El Zarco (meaning light blue eyes) was a rock on the Dallas backline. During his tenure, he played center back, outside back, wing back, holding midfielder, etc. He was rightly named the team MVP in 1998 and was a 3 time Dallas Burn Defender of the Year.

I’m not going to lie, I have always loved Nikes kits. Their style is just classic and has always just been a clean look. Something that continues to this day. This is one of the last years that Dallas used the highly controversial Wasabi Green color on their jersey. Highly controversial because you either hate it or are ambivalent about it. I’ve yet to meet anyone who loved it. You can also see the hoops that the team got its nickname from. Something that the team has gotten away from in recent years.

You can see that we have a sewn on crest and Nike swoosh. However the Dallas Burn wording itself is screen printed. It seems that the Nike logo is screen printed on the jerseys that were available to the public.

You can see the 17 is the heat applied vinyl and the very cool and satisfying feeling of the Dallas Burn logo. The AT&T logo is on the left sleeve while the small first generation MLS logo is on the right sleeve. And of course the thick folded collar that was the style of the time.

Here you can see the heat applied vinyl for both the name and the numbers on the back. All standard for the time. And of course the AT&T logo sewn on to the bottom of the back.

Overall a really cool addition and a nice piece of club history. El Zarco is still to this day a fan favorite. A huge shoutout to my buddy Kris for making this available to me!

Chad Deering was an Defensive Midfielder who played with Dallas for 7 years. He grew up just down the road from the club where he was twice named a High School All American. After graduating he went to Indiana University where he was NCAA First Team All American. After that he went to Germany to start his professional career. After a 8 years in Germany, Chad came back to the United States where he was assigned to the Dallas Burn in 1998. The same year that Chad would represent the United States in the World Cup in France, replacing the disgraced John Harkes.

Ahhh yes, more Wasabi Green. 2000 would be the last season that this baby poop shade of green would grace Dallas’ MLS kits. It is also the last time that Nike would be the kit sponsor for the club. Truly, the end of an era.

You see the weird screen printed/vinyl of the club across the front as well as the embroidered Nike swoosh and a sewn on Dallas Burn logo.

The left sleeve features the wonderful portrait of the great Tony the Tiger. Sorry, I meant the GrrrrrrrrEAT Tony the Tiger……

You’re welcome.

The right sleeves features the first generation MLS Logo, the last season that this would be used. After this it switches to the logo with the same design, just with Major League Soccer added underneath.

The back is a continuation of the front, more white bracketed by the vomitous green. The same vinyl letters for the name and numbers complete with a nice big sewn on Frosted Flakes tramp stamp for the players.

Chad actually signed this jersey for me at a game during the 2023 MLS season when Dallas hosted Atlanta on 9/2/2023. Dallas had a few alumni back for an appearance including Jeff Cassar, Paul Broome, and Chad Deering for the Retro Burn Night theme.

I was lucky enough to find this jersey with the help of a friend, Jason. He was kind enough to point me in the direction of the former San Jose Earthquakes kitman where I acquired this, my first Dallas Burn jersey. It had been many years of me looking before I found one. As you can imagine, these older kits are hard to come by so any time you can add one to the colletion you have to jump on it.