Pele died the other day at the age of 82. That is a nice long life lived. He was a very good person from what I know. Also he was one of the greatest athletes of my lifetime.

I have mentioned many times on the site and the podcast how little I know about soccer. It's a sport I've never played, don't watch and am not all that invested in. I wasn't good at it when I played pickup soccer so it never stayed with me. I couldn't tell you who Messi or Neymar is without my 10 year old letting me know. I only know Diego Maradona for his off field antics. But I do know who Pele is, or was for that matter. His name has always been mentioned when people talk about the greatest athletes of all time. When "The Simpsons" did an entire episode about soccer, Pele showed up to play himself. I know what the Brazil soccer jersey looks like because of all the pictures I have seen in my lifetime of Pele. I understand the breadth he held in the sports world and the world for that matter.

Pele transcended sports. He was a global icon. He was the GOAT before any of us used that acronym. Little kids know who he is. I can go to a basketball practice for my team right now and the kids have no idea who guys like Shawn Kemp or Grant Hill are. I go to baseball and get side eye views when I bring up Vlad Guerrero or Dave Winfield. Young football players look aghast when I tell them Jerry Rice is better than any wide out today. Or god help me if I say Barry Sanders is the best back of all time. But all the little kids I have helped coach or know their parents that play soccer all know who Pele is. Pele is as synonymous to soccer as Michael Jordan and LeBron James are to basketball, but I don't think people would argue with you over Pele being the greatest soccer player of all time. I don't have any stats or anything like that to go off of because of my lack of knowledge in the sport. But the sheer fact that I know who Pele is/was, that I know he played soccer, that he revolutionized the game, that people asked him to come to America to play to try and make it popular, that should speak volumes to the person Pele was. There will never be another like him. Pele is an original. He was Messi before Messi. Neymar before Neymar. I remember when Freddy Adu was all the rage and people tried to say he was going to be the next Pele. Those shoes were far too big to fill and it never happened for Adu. That is because no one else could ever live up to Pele. He is the generational soccer player. If soccer had a logo it would be Pele. He was a do it all type player. He was also so great that, as mentioned before, people in the US enticed him to come play in America just to try and drum up interest in the most popular sport in the rest of the world.

Pele will be missed. He did live a long, fulfilling life. But still, when an icon like this passes it always leaves a dent. It always makes you go back and reminisce about that person. Rest In Peace Pele. Go play, and dominate, some soccer wherever you are now. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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