Pele In My Pocket

Edison Arantes do Nascimento is among the pantheon of football gods. Before names like Neymar, Ronaldo and Messi, before even Beckham and Maradona there was Pele. The name strikes awe among players and fans alike. Over a twenty year career playing for the Brazilian National Team, Santos Futebol Clube and the New York Cosmos he won awards, trophies and even three World Cup titles.

 

Pele is known the world over for his skills, in 1967 there was a ceasefire during the Nigerian Civil War so the soldiers could watch him play a game in Lagos. He even took on the dreaded Nazis and won (not really) when he stared in the 1981 film Escape to Victory along with Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine.

 

I was a little kid in New York during his time with the Cosmos and every kid on my soccer teams tried his bicycle kick, usually to humorous results and very little scoring. I have been a Pele fan since. When 2013 A&G was released his relics were readily available to all fans and I was able to pick one up, along with a regular base card and missing text variation, for a great price.

 

On a side note, this 2013 Topps Tier One Pele autograph is about the most badass autograph card available. Topps designers nailed it, they used Brazil’s green and yellow national colors, which also happen to be two of the three colors of the Cosmos logo too. The card is well outside of my budget but I do appreciate its beauty.