San Francisco 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall has been very candid about the traumatic aftermath of a shooting he thought would take his life nearly one year ago to the day.
On Aug. 31, 2024, Pearsall was shot through the chest during an attempted armed robbery in Union Square. When the first officer on the scene got to Pearsall, the receiver asked if he was going to die. Not only did he survive, but he managed to suit up and play 11 games for the team that drafted him last season.
But in an ESPN story published Monday highlighting the journey of the second-year player’s comeback, Pearsall shared that the recovery process has not only been physical but mental as well.
“Unfortunately, I revisit that every single night I go to bed,” Pearsall said of the shooting. “I kind of just carry that with me. And now I think it’s not as much of avoiding it or revisiting it or not revisiting it. It’s more of how I deal with it and the light that I put on it. And for me it’s more of a positive light and the things that I can get out of that and more of a positive direction and try to inspire other people … I’ve been doing a better job of dealing with it myself.”
The Niners receiver won’t have to deal with this alone. Last month, the 49ers traded for running back Brian Robinson Jr., and it’s hard to imagine anyone more well equipped to relate to what Pearsall is going through than him. Just one year prior to Pearsall’s shooting, Robinson was shot during an attempted robbery and car jacking right before the start of his rookie season in Washington, D.C. Like Pearsall, Robinson made it back on the field for his NFL debut later that year.
In an interview with TalkSport, Pearsall shared the conversation the two had about their experiences when they met last week.
“Being able to go back and reflect with someone that can directly relate to you and — he mentioned you never know what you’re going to do in that situation until you’re in it,” he said. “That hit home for me cause I couldn’t imagine what I would have done there. Everybody thinks they know what they would do in that situation until you’re in it. That’s what I found out about myself: ‘I’m not going.’ That’s what we both said: ‘We not going.’”
Thankfully for Niners fans, the only place those two are going is Seattle this Sunday, when the 49ers are set to open their season against the Seahawks.
