How 49ers’ Ricky Pearsall Managed to ‘Forgive’ Teenager Who Shot Him

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall offered his perspective on being shot in the chest during an armed robbery attempt last year. 

Pearsall, 24, was hospitalized as a result of the shooting in August 2024, which happened in San Francisco’s Union Square when a 17-year-old attempted to rob the football star at gunpoint. 

“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, as violent as a crime it was,” Pearsall told reporters on Monday, January 6. “God forbid him doing that to someone else. I don’t ever want that to happen.”

Pearsall added, “But for me, just being able to forgive him. I have to be able to forgive him to have that weight off my chest.”

Three days after the shooting, an unnamed minor was charged with attempted murder in relation to the incident. The suspect, who remains incarcerated, also faces a second-degree robbery charge and a charge for assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

“At some point, I do want to talk to the kid,” Pearsall said. “If I can create an impact on him in any way, I think that would be really good and I’d be open to doing that for sure.”

Pearsall was hospitalized in “serious, but stable” condition after the shooting. He was released the following day. 

“A struggle between Mr. Pearsall and the suspect ensued and gunfire from the suspect’s gun struck both Mr. Pearsall and the suspect,” San Francisco police chief Bill Scott said in a statement after the incident. “This kind of violence is simply unacceptable in our city and we will do everything in our power to work with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to ensure that justice is served in this matter.”

Pearsall, who was drafted by the 49ers with the 31st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, missed the team’s first six games of the season as a result of his injuries. He made his NFL debut on October 20, 2024, exactly 50 days after he had been shot. 

“It meant everything,” Pearsall told reporters after the game. “Obviously, all the adversity I just went through these past months, it was really good to go out there with my guys again.”

He continued, “At the end of the day when the incident first happened, the first thing I was thinking about was the guys and the coaches in this locker room, the entire staff, and they did a really good job of rallying around me, making sure I stayed up, and it was a huge blessing for me.”