San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall missed the first six games of the 2024 NFL season after being shot in the chest in an attempted robbery in August .
He was released from the hospital two days later and made a full recovery. He made his NFL debut in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs and finished his rookie campaign with six catches for 69 yards and a touchdown in the 49ers’ 47-24 loss to Arizona in Week 18 .
After the game, Pearsall spoke about his season and forgiving the teenager who shot him in the attempted robbery.
“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. “As violent as a crime as it was, God forbid him doing that to somebody else. I don’t ever want that to happen.”
“For me, 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,” Pearsall continued. “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. I think I’d be definitely open to doing that, for sure.”