KNBR
Ricky Pearsall is making 2025 a year of forgiveness … saying he wants to forgive the teenager who shot him during a botched armed robbery in San Francisco, and wouldn’t mind talking to the shooter.
The 49ers rookie opened up on his whirlwind rookie season during cleanout day at the team facility — after his squad missed out on the postseason — and as harrowing as the August robbery attempt was, the 23-year-old WR isn’t making judgments about the teen’s character.
“I don’t know how he grew up,” Pearsall said. “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.”
Of course, Pearsall, who had been at an autograph signing, was shot in Union Square by a teenager who attempted to steal his Rolex watch. Luckily, the bullet missed all vital organs.
The SF District Attorney charged the shooter with attempted murder, attempted second-degree robbery, and assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
While he awaits his case, Pearsall hopes to speak with the 17-year-old one day … in an attempt to make a positive impact.
“I have to be able to forgive him to have that weight off my chest,” Pearsall said. “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.”
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While that meeting hasn’t yet happened, Pearsall has reunited with some of the first responders who rushed to the scene to save him … when he hosted the group at the Niners-Jets Monday Night Football game in September.