Once A Metro Productions presents: The Golden Bulls - a tribute to Dax McCarty

We never got to say goodbye.

Dax McCarty was the New York Red Bulls' club captain for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He was a key part of the squads that won RBNY's first two (only two, for now) meaningful trophies: the 2013 and 2015 Supporters' Shields. He is the Red Bulls' all-time, all-competitions record holder for appearances (198), starts (189), and minutes (16,785). He is a New York Red Bulls legend.

And on January 16, 2017, he was traded to the Chicago Fire. Two days after his wedding. A day after joining the US Men's National Team's January training camp.

And we never got to say goodbye. The trade was announced late on Martin Luther King Day: a national holiday used to partially conceal a club's shame at shunting another one of its legends out the door without ceremony or even particular courtesy.

Unfortunately, it is the Red Bull way to make such mistakes. It is a fan's way to make tributes.

Dax, here's the goodbye you never got but should have: thank you for being a captain; thank you for being a legend. Thank you, indeed, for being a friend.

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