It was a spur-of-the-moment decision for then 20-year-old Jimmy McAlister, a defender for the Seattle Sounders, which had just lost 2-1 in Soccer Bowl ’77, the title game of the North American Soccer League.
He asked legendary Pelé, playing for the Cosmos in the final competitive match of his career, for his jersey.
“It’s very, very, very seldom when you play against a player or a team that you’re kind of in awe with,” said McAlister who grew up in West Seattle and went to Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien. “They had quite the team but Pelé was somebody that everybody had heard of. He was kind of like Muhammad Ali.”
Pelé, regarded by many experts as the greatest player of all-time, granted McAlister’s request. It’s a memento that McAlister has cherished for more than 45 years, and it has become even more significant with the death of Pelé, 82, on Thursday from cancer.
For years, McAlister displayed the jersey at his home in a trophy case. It’s now safely in a bank vault.
McAlister said he has had calls over the years from people hoping to buy the jersey, and he said the calls intensified once Pelé became gravely ill.
“I never really thought about selling it,” McAlister said. “I feel that it’s an heirloom that I could pass on to my son and daughter, so it means a lot to our family. To sell it was it would be a tough emotional decision for me.”
While Pelé, who was 36 when the Cosmos defeated the Sounders in the title game, was wrapping up his career, McAlister was just getting started.
He played two more seasons with the Sounders before being traded. McAlister was a teammate of another legend, George Best, during his time with the San Jose Earthquakes (1981-83) and he earned six caps with the U.S. national team.
McAlister returned home in 1983 to join the indoor Tacoma Stars, playing through 1986. He coached the team in 1988.
McAlister, 65, has remained in soccer. He coached Decatur High School in Federal Way to state 4A titles in 2001 and 2002.
Since 2010, he has been the director of Seattle United, which has 2,100 youth in its development programs.
McAlister said he doesn’t see the Pelé jersey often, but he has taken a few groups from Brazil, where Pelé is from, to see it.
“They look at the jersey like it’s the second coming of the Lord Jesus,” McAlister said. “You can see they’re just in awe of it.”
For McAlister, the jersey is a connection to his playing days. That has meant a lot to him over the decades.
McAlister said he wasn’t as devastated after the loss to the Cosmos because at 20, he didn’t fully comprehend how hard it was to get to the title game. He did realize the significance of playing against Pelé, and defending the great when he entered McAlister’s zone.
So when the game was over and Pelé was standing next to McAlister, the young Sounder made his request.
“It’s something that you know you have, but you don’t see all the time, but it still means a lot,” McAlister said of the jersey. “That kind of brings me back to playing against those guys and to that part of my life, which was a long, long time ago.”