San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall wants to meet the teenage assailant who shot him in an attempted robbery before the start of the season so he can “forgive” him and “get that weight” off his chest.
San Francisco’s 2024 1st round draft pick made the comments to reporters as he and his teammates were cleaning out their lockers following a disappointing 2024-2025 campaign that saw the 9ers miss the playoffs for the first time in a long time.
“I don’t know how he grew up,” Pearsall said of the teenager who shot him on a San Francisco street as he made his way to an autograph signing. “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.”
The assailant demanded Pearsall’s watch and then shot the 23-year-old at point-blank range after the former Florida Gator refused to surrender his timepiece. The youth has been charged with attempted murder, attempted second-degree robbery, and assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
“I have to be able to forgive him to have that weight off my chest,” Pearsall said of the 17-year-old who shot him. “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.”
Pearsall has met with the first responders who came to his aid. Whether a meeting between him and his assailant ever happens remains to be seen.
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