After being robbed at gunpoint — and getting shot — San Francisco 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall’s NFL debut had to be put on halt. Now that he has made it back and is making plays for the 49ers, how has his perspective changed?
“I Know God Got Me”
In late August, Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery at Union Square in San Francisco. A 17-year-old attempted to steal Pearsall’s Rolex watch, and he was shot in the chest during the scuffle.
Officers stated that Pearsall was targeted because of his Rolex rather than his status as an NFL player.
Pearsall fought back and was shot in the chest, but the bullet exited his back without hitting any vital organs. The robber also got shot, taking a bullet from his own gun during the struggle.
It is not often that someone gets an opportunity to resume their dreams after being shot, but Pearsall has that opportunity and it was so good to see him back out on the field.
Ricky Pearsall on if getting shot changed his outlook on life:
“As far as living my life with fear… I never want to live that way. I know God got me” 🙏
(via Cleats & Convos with Deebo Samuel) pic.twitter.com/Aoy6kPDqhe
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 8, 2025
Pearsall has taken the high road in this whole situation, even going as far as saying that he “has to” forgive the 17-year-old shooter, and he wants to help make a positive impact on him.
“I don’t how how he grew up so, I can’t judge him as a man just based off one action that he made. As violent as a crime as it was, god forbid him doing that to somebody else. I don’t ever want that to happen so… just being able to forgive him at the end of the day like, I have to be able to forgive him to have that weight off my chest.
“At some point I do want to talk to the kid and make sure that, if I can create an impact on him in any way I think that would be really big. I’d be definitely open to doing that,” Pearsall said of the shooter.
49ers’ Lone Bright Spot
In a season that it felt like everything that could go wrong for San Francisco did, Pearsall’s return brought some joy to the team, and his performance gives them a lot of reason to be excited.
Over the course of the final six games of the year, Pearsall hauled in 31 passes for exactly 400 yards and three touchdowns.
The team did win just one of those games, but it wouldn’t be fair to put the blame solely on the offense, as the defense allowed 29.3 points per game over that stretch.
His breakout game came against the NFC’s top-seeded Detroit Lions. In a 40-34 loss, Pearsall caught eight of 10 passes that were thrown his way for 141 yards and a touchdown.
With question marks around the status of Brandon Aiyuk (ACL tear) and Christian McCaffrey (Achilles, knee) going into next season, it appears that Pearsall is poised to have a prominent role in this offense.