Gordon Robinson | The King is dead

2023 has the unwelcome distinction of being the first in over 80 years to begin without the physical presence of one Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

Who dat? Everybody knows! Ronald Reagan put it best when introducing himself to the one, true King, “no need for you to introduce yourself. Everybody knows who Pelé is.” Why? Elementary, my Dear Watson! He was simply the best and the greatest football player ever to grace the game.

I don’t plan to engage the spiritually disabled among us leaning on their statistical crutches to try to prove otherwise, whether due to lack of personal experience or plain contrariness. Statisticians should’ve noted Pelé’s 1,284 official goals in 1,363 games (77 for Brazil in 92 games) and 92 hat-tricks. Despite these numbers, only one statistic matters. Pelé won THREE World Cups before the age of 30! No other football player has come close (Maradona, the cheat, won one fairly and one with, er um, ‘divine’ help).

But those numbers only address who is or isn’t the best and conclusively, in my opinion, settle the issue in Pelé’s favour. But so-called sports analysts often confuse ‘best’ and ‘greatest’. ‘Best’ is decided on the field of play. ‘Greatest’ is decided within and shown without OFF the field of play. It includes sporting factors like team leadership and teamwork, but it involves so much more than the ability to kick, throw, hit or catch a ball.

The world accepts Muhammad Ali as the Greatest Boxer of All Time. Yet his ring accomplishments have been equalled and even surpassed by a select few, especially outside his weight division. It was his humanity outside the ring that earned him the ‘greatest’ title.

TRANSCENDENTAL

‘Best’ is technical and parochial. ‘Greatest’ is transcendental.

Pelé’s accomplishments as team leader and member (including that amazingly instinctive yet casual-looking pass to an empty space that teed up an onrushing Carlos Alberto for the last 1970 Final goal) are legendary. Off the field, he was named IOC Athlete (not footballer) of the 20th Century; International Federation of Football History and Statistics’ World Player of the Century; and included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most important people (not footballers) of the 20th century.

In 1992 Pelé was appointed UN Ambassador for ecology and the environment, and in 1994, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Pelé also supported many charitable causes, including Action for Brazil’s Children; Gols Pela Vida; SOS Children’s Villages; The Littlest Lamb; Prince’s Rainforest Project. In 2016, Pelé auctioned over 1,600 items from his decades-long collection and raised £3.6 million for charity. In 2018, he founded the Pelé Foundation with a mandate to empower impoverished and disenfranchised children everywhere.

Incidentally, Pelé is the only footballer to dribble nine players and score (Maracana Stadium, 1961); for whom Queen Elizabeth II broke protocol to shake his hand; who was married by the Pope for a second time to the same woman; for whom a war (Nigerian civil war) was paused to watch him play.

He’s the only footballer to be declared a National Treasure. He received an Honorary Knighthood from the Queen of England.

But his greatest accomplishment, which no other player can claim, was that it was his play that dubbed Football ‘The Beautiful Game’ and created a mighty love for the game in hundreds of millions of humans worldwide.

“A mighty love

will sometimes make a weak man strong

A mighty love

will sometimes make a rich man weep

and knock him off his feet

to have a mighty love!”

In a legendary career (mostly in the 1970s) in Philadelphia Soul, brilliantly innovative composer, arranger and producer Thom Bell’s best work was done (often with lyricist Linda Creed) for outstanding R&B group the Spinners. Mighty Love, the title track from their fourth studio album (1974), was a massive hit, including in Jamaica.

Thomas Randall Bell’s origins are vague. He was born, depending on your source, on January 26 or 27, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or somewhere in Jamaica, with Philadelphia more likely, despite some Jamaican commentators’ post-mortem attempts to claim him. What seems conclusive is his father, Leroy Bell, was from Portsmouth, Virginia, and mother, Anna Burke, was born in Baltimore. So we’ll have to dig up deeper roots to make him a Jamaican. It nuh matta! The music he created, like the mighty love Pelé created for football, is eternal.

The King is Dead. Long live the King, Kylian Mbappé, whose greatness, like that of all new Kings, is yet to be manifested.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.