RIP Pelé...

[Detroitgator]

Not a fan of soccer, but he was in the only soccer related thing worth watching! Honestly though, I have tremendous respect for anyone who was at the top of their sport...

 

[78]

The Big Sombrero would be filled to the rafters whenever the Pele-led Cosmos visited the Rowdies. He was larger than life.

 

[GatorCatsi]

Saw him play in Colombia when I was 10 years old. Didn't know squat about soccer, other than playing in PE, but could still see how great he was.

 

[I Have No Friends :(]

The Michael Jordan of women's sports. Much respect to his skills, soccer notsomuch.

 

[URGatorBait]

Saw him play in Colombia when I was 10 years old. Didn't know squat about soccer, other than playing in PE, but could still see how great he was.

I think we know exactly what you were doing in Columbia

 

[GatorCatsi]

I think we know exactly what you were doing in Columbia

Moving serious product.

Actually, we were there for a swim meet.

We competed well in the shorter distances but being from FL, anything over 200 meters was brutal, since Bogota is 8,600 ft above sea level.

 

[PCGatorAlum]

Pele was better than anyone I have ever seen.

 

[URGatorBait]

Moving serious product.

Actually, we were there for a swim meet.

We competed well in the shorter distances but being from FL, anything over 200 meters was brutal, since Bogota is 8,600 ft above sea level.

I was just going to say getting coffee

 

[cover2]

Not a fan of soccer, but he was in the only soccer related thing worth watching! Honestly though, I have tremendous respect for anyone who was at the top of their sport...

Likewise. However, ABC’s Wide World of Sports would cover him (and team) and I’d always make sure to watch. He was a magician, ahead of his time.

 

[CGgater]

I didn’t follow soccer either, but I understood that Pele was Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan.

 

[abefroman]

Defeated more Nazis than Indiana Jones

 

[Ray Finkle]

Not the GOAT, but still a sad day for the sport. Great player.

 

[LongTooth]

Pele became the template for modern international soccer stardom. Charisma and bottomless talent. Like Ali in boxing, or Bird and Magic’s rivalry in the 80’s NBA, he took the game to a whole new level and there was no going back.

What’s incredible about it is that his status among the legends was gained well before the time when people in every corner of the world could see every angle of every kick he made on tv, internet, social media, etc, and he never played professionally in the big European leagues. He only played for two teams his entire career: Santos in Brazil and NY Cosmos in NASL. Most of the planet only saw him playing and winning two world cups, 58 and 70, because he was out injured in 62 and hobbled in 66 with a bum knee on a weak Brazil team that crashed out.

And yet, he will forever be mentioned alongside modern stars like Messi, Mbappe, and Ronaldo, guys whose faces and highlights are plastered everywhere 24/7.

That fact should suggest to those who don’t know the game well just how unbelievable he was.

And even though he couldn’t act for ****, he helped make VICTORY the best war/sports film anyone could dream of.

Obrigado Senhor.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

I got to see him play his last season with the Cosmos when they played the Diplomats at a packed RFK stadium in DC. (The only time they ever packed the place was against the Cosmos.) He was clearly past his prime, but it was still pretty cool. RIP Pele.

 

[78]

Pele became the template for modern international soccer stardom. Charisma and bottomless talent. Like Ali in boxing, or Bird and Magic’s rivalry in the 80’s NBA, he took the game to a whole new level and there was no going back.

What’s incredible about it is that his status among the legends was gained well before the time when people in every corner of the world could see every angle of every kick he made on tv, internet, social media, etc, and he never played professionally in the big European leagues. He only played for two teams his entire career: Santos in Brazil and NY Cosmos in NASL. Most of the planet only saw him playing and winning two world cups, 58 and 70, because he was out injured in 62 and hobbled in 66 with a bum knee on a weak Brazil team that crashed out.

And yet, he will forever be mentioned alongside modern stars like Messi, Mbappe, and Ronaldo, guys whose faces and highlights are plastered everywhere 24/7.

That fact should suggest to those who don’t know the game well just how unbelievable he was.

And even though he couldn’t act for ****, he helped make VICTORY the best war/sports film anyone could dream of.

Obrigado Senhor.

 

[GBHOR]

His type of skill was not seen before his time. I would make a slight comparison to what spurrier did with offense in SEC, as far as changing the game. I believe i heard this morning he scored 1400 goals in 1200 career games.

 

[LongTooth]

His type of skill was not seen before his time. I would make a slight comparison to what spurrier did with offense in SEC, as far as changing the game. I believe i heard this morning he scored 1400 goals in 1200 career games.

He retired from the Brazil national team in 1970 and his goals total for them was only just matched by Neymar in the recent WC. He’s still tied for the top.

Amazing considering Brazil’s passion for the game and the sheer amount of quality players they produce every generation…. And Pele did it while being violently fouled repeatedly by opponents in an era of the game that was far more physical where refs let tons of dirty play go.