There was a moment, right after the shooting incident, when no one quite knew if Ricky Pearsall would ever step on a football field again. By all accounts, the first pictures that emerged after the incident were not easy to look at. The robbers had shot him in the right side of his chest after a struggle during an attempted armed robbery. His mother’s prayers were with him. The footballing world was showing support for the Pearsalls. And within hours, the former first-rounder was in a much stable state. Within a day, his doctors said he’d pull through.

Fast forward ten months after that horrifying incident, and the 24-year-old wideout reflects on the trauma he still feels. Sure, he recovered, returned to the 49ers roster in week 7, and went on the play the remainder of the season. But you don’t shrug an incident like that, where it was a matter of life and death for you, just like that.

“I just got in that fight-or-flight mentality, man, like something I’ve never experienced before. I think about it 24/7. You know what I mean? There’s not a single day that goes by where I don’t think about it, just because it is something that’s very global.” Ricky further added, “That story is never going to go away. And I’m constantly thinking about it, just from the damage that maybe it took on me.”

Police records read that a 17-year-old male from Tracy, California, allegedly demanded that the NFL player give up the items in his possession. At the time, Ricky was wearing a white-gold chain and an expensive Rolex watch. Now, although the horror details of the incident will not leave him easily, as he admitted, Pearsall has still found the courage to take positives out of the “darkness.”

“I just think about it and think about maybe some regrets that I have,” he continued. “But I always get into the mindset, like, why do I regret any situation that played out the way it was supposed to play out? God had a plan for me, so there are a lot of positives that can still come out of the darkness that I faced.”

Right after that incident, a video surfaced on social media, featuring the injured Pearsall approaching a stretcher. At that time, it was unclear to the folks out there that the bullet went clean through his chest. But Ricky? Well, one could notice that he was still calm, as the San Francisco Police Department Sgt. Joelle Harrell comforted him. So, obviously, when he came back, it drew significant attention not just in San Francisco, but in the whole nation. And now, he’s gearing up to kick-start his second season with the Niners.

Ricky Pearsall’s got that WR1 mindset for 2025

Back on September 1, 2024, Ricky Pearsall’s mother, Erin, shared an update on Facebook: “Update on my baby boy. He was s— in the chest and it exited out back. Thanks be to GOD, it missed his vital organs.” The rookie’s NFL career had barely begun. But now? Less than a year later, the baby boy is already staring down a bigger role in the 49ers’ offense.

With Deebo Samuel off to Washington and Brandon Aiyuk still sidelined with an ACL tear, Pearsall is next up. His rookie year was quiet early on—13 catches across his first eight games—but the finish was a different story. In the final three games of the 2024 season, he caught 18 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. That wasn’t just a late-season surge. It was a statement. “It definitely was a boost,” Pearsall told NBC Sports Bay Area, reflecting on his strong finish.

Now the door’s wide open… And he’s not changing a thing. “I feel like my mindset-wise is not changing at all,” Pearsall told 49ers Webzone. “I still have that wide receiver one mindset, and that’s just how I was raised.” He credited his parents for instilling that mentality. Whether he’s on top of the depth chart or buried behind it, Pearsall said the approach is the same. Show up, work hard, and be ready.

The 49ers didn’t spend a first-round pick on Ricky Pearsall for nothing. If he stays healthy, he won’t just be filling in. He’ll be featured. And if those final games in 2024 were any indication, San Francisco might already have their next breakout wideout in the making.