Ricky Pearsall was hoping to carve out a role in the 49ers' offense for the 2024 season. His NFL debut is going to have to wait.
The San Francisco rookie wide receiver is beginning the season on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list, which will keep him out for the first four games of the season.
Pearsall was the No. 31 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The 23-year-old started his college career at Arizona State, breaking through with 580 yards in 2021 before transferring to Florida. Pearsall set career-highs in yards with the Gators in both 2022 and 2023, posting 965 yards and four touchdowns last season as a fifth-year senior.
While Pearsall has been hampered with an injury throughout training camp and the preseason, that isn't the only ailment he is dealing with. The wide receiver was involved in a botched robbery that resulted in him getting shot in the altercation.
Here are the latest updates on Pearsall's condition and the incident that occurred in San Francisco before the season.
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What happened to Ricky Pearsall?
Pearsall was shot in an attempted armed robbery in San Francisco's Union Square on Saturday, Aug. 31.
BREAKING: 49ers Ricky Pearsall has been shot in Union Square in an attempted robbery. According to Sup. Peskin's office, the suspect is in custody and Ricky is in stable condition. His office has been in touch with Central Command. More to come. @nbcbayarea
— Gia Vang (@Gia_Vang) August 31, 2024
San Francisco police confirmed Pearsall and the suspect both were shot during a struggle for the gun. Pearsall was shot "through the chest" and then taken to San Francisco General Hospital. He was in stable condition and released the next afternoon.
The next day, Erin Pearsall, Ricky's mother, posted on Facebook that the bullet entered Pearsall's chest and went through his back while avoiding vital organs.
Ricky Pearsall’s mom, Erin, posted on Facebook that the bullet entered Pearsall’s chest and exited his back without hitting any vital organs pic.twitter.com/YXKUY4m8I3
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) September 1, 2024
Pearsall was going to an autograph signing at the time of the incident, police said.
Per SFPD: 49ers Ricky Pearsall was shot in San Francisco. Robbery gone bad. Pearsall was going to a signing on Geary/Market, got robbed, and struggle for the gun. Both Ricky and suspect shot. Both parties at SF General Hospital. Stable. Shot through chest over Rolex.
— Kirsten Moran-Kellar (@kirstenlizmoran) September 1, 2024
Video from Saturday showed Pearsall walking away from the scene of the crime to an ambulance. He was seen bleeding from his chest.
49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall walking to the ambulance after being shot today during an attempted robbery in San Francisco.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2024
📹 @ZakSNews of @KTVU pic.twitter.com/BlwnENgBLK
"Once everyone walked in, no one knew the exact story, so I was able to reassure everybody as soon as they got there that he was totally fine," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Sept. 5. "It's a miracle. Where he got shot is like two inches below his tattoo with praying hands. The whole story is kind of amazing.
"But to tell everyone right when they got there, it was really cool. And then about two hours later, Ricky got on [FaceTime] and talked to everybody."
Shanahan details the miraculous location Pearsall got shot 😲 pic.twitter.com/pL5tUJ7l64
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 5, 2024
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Just five days after the shooting, Pearsall was back on the 49ers' practice field, where he was seen talking to his teammates and throwing a football around.
"He's as tough a person I know, just going through a situation like that," Shanahan said. "We always felt this way watching him on the football field and things like that. But to watch how he handled that situation and watch how he's been every day since, it shows how special of a guy he is."
The 17-year-old teenager who allegedly shot Pearsall has been charged with attempted murder, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced on Sept. 3. He also has been charged with personal discharge of a firearm and personal and intentional discharge of that firearm, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and attempted second-degree robbery.
As a result of newly revealed security footage, the teenager's public defender, Robert Dunlap, is claiming that the attempted murder charge should instead be attempted robbery.
"It was a rather extended struggle between Mr. Pearsall and my client," Dunlap told reporters, according to The Athletic.
“They were really fighting back and forth on the sidewalk. As you might imagine, Mr. Pearsall gets the best of it. He does kind of — I don’t know if you’ve ever wrestled or not — a nice hip toss and throws my client to the ground and ends up on top of him.
“… I think [the video] supports that this is an attempted robbery and not an attempted murder.”
It is unclear if the teenager will be charged as an adult.
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Pearsall and the first responders who attended to him after the shooting shared a moment together before the 49ers' season opener against the Jets.
Ricky Pearsall embraces the first responders who helped save his life ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YBpVMcZBH2
— ESPN (@espn) September 10, 2024
San Francisco placed Pearsall on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list on Sept. 2, two days after the shooting. That will keep him out for at least the season's first four games, but it could end up being longer.
