Niners Wide Receiver Ricky Pearsall Wants To Speak With the Teen Who Shot

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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who was shot during an attempted robbery this past August, expressed a desire to meet and forgive the 17-year-old accused of shooting him.

What a remarkable, stand-up move on his part. Something you don’t really see these days.

Pearsall, the Niners first-round draft pick in 2024, said in an interview with KNBR that he wants to better understand the young man who nearly killed him.

“I don’t know how he grew up, so I can’t judge him as a man just based off one action that he made,” Pearsall said on Monday. “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.”

Ricky Pearsall goes in-depth about being shot, and would like to forgive and talk to the kid who shot him during an attempted robbery.

“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… pic.twitter.com/1ycoUYha88

— KNBR (@KNBR) January 6, 2025

Ricky Pearsall Wants To Forgive

Ricky Pearsall wants to get the weight off his chest. But that’s because he took a bullet to his chest.

Pearsall was shot in the chest on a Saturday afternoon, just days before the NFL season was set to begin. The shooting occurred when the 17-year-old suspect attempted to rob him at gunpoint, leading to a struggle over the firearm.

Initially described as being in serious but stable condition, the first-round pick out of Florida was treated at San Francisco General Hospital. He was released the following day. His injuries, while severe, were not life-threatening.

Which is incredibly fortunate. It could have been so much worse, obviously. Life, like football, can come down to mere inches.

Pearsall would go on to miss the first six games of the season due to his injuries. He showed remarkable resilience by returning to play and finishing with 31 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games.

Wants To Make An Impact

Following the shooting, Ricky Pearsall joked to 49ers general manager John Lynch that he is “not injury prone.”

Just two days after being shot, according to KNBR radio analyst Tim Ryan, the San Francisco wideout was in the weight room.

While he’s not injury-prone, Pearsall couldn’t escape the crime in San Francisco.

San Francisco Giants co-owner Buster Posey stated that his team may have lost out on the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes to the Los Angeles Dodgers last year due to crime in the city.

“There’s been a bit of uneasiness with the city itself as far as the state of the city with crime and drugs,” Posey told the Atlantic.

Pearsall said he not only needs to forgive the young man, but he hopes to have a positive impact on his life going forward.

“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,” Pearsall said. “I think that would be really big. I’d be definitely open to doing that.”

The teenager was charged with attempted murder and faces charges of attempted second-degree robbery and assault with a semi-automatic firearm.