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Ricky Pearsall is making 2025 a year of forgiveness… and says he wants to forgive the teenager who shot him in a botched armed robbery in San Francisco and wouldn't mind talking to the shooter.
The 49ers' rookie opened his whirlwind rookie season during cleanout day at the team's facility – after his team missed the postseason – and it was as harrowing as that Robbery attempt in August was that the 23-year-old WR made no judgments about the teenager's character.
“I don’t know how he grew up,” Pearsall said. “I can’t judge him as a man based on just one act. As violent as the crime was, God forbid he do that to anyone else.”
Of course, Pearsall, who had been attending an autograph signing, was shot in Union Square by a teenager trying to steal his Rolex watch. Fortunately, the bullet missed all vital organs.
The SF District Attorney attacked the shooter for attempted murder, attempted second-degree robbery and assault with a semi-automatic firearm.
As he awaits his case, Pearsall hopes to one day speak to the 17-year-old… in an attempt to make a positive difference.
“I have to be able to forgive him for taking this weight off my chest,” Pearsall said. “At some point I want to talk to the kid and make sure that if I can make a difference to him in some way, I think it would be really big.”
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While that meeting hasn't happened yet, 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.