The San Francisco 49ers rookie was shot through the chest during an armed robbery attempt in late August

Sean Neumann is a reporter at PEOPLE. He has been working at PEOPLE since 2019. His work has previously appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, ESPN, and more.

Updated on October 21, 2024 11:56AM EDTRicky Pearsall. Credit :

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Against all odds, Ricky Pearsall was back where he was always supposed to be this weekend: on the football field.

Just two months after he was shot in the chest during a botched robbery in downtown San Francisco, the 49ers rookie wide receiver, 24, made his NFL debut on Sunday afternoon and completed the first catch of his career.

“It meant everything,” Pearsall told reporters after the game. “Obviously, all the adversity I just went through these past months, it was really good to go out there with my guys again. … At the end of the day when the incident first happened, the first thing I was thinking about was the guys and the coaches in this locker room, the entire staff, and they did a really good job of rallying around me, making sure I stayed up, and it was a huge blessing for me.”

Pearsall made three catches for 21 yards in the 49ers’ 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and said the momentous day “felt like it was scripted” at certain points.Ricky Pearsall.

Eakin Howard/AP

After the game, Pearsall made his first public comments about his harrowing experience from the Aug. 31 shooting, but also managed to smile and joke at times about how well he’s managed to recover since then.

“Physically I feel great,” the rookie smirked. “I feel like I could play another game right now.”

Pearsall opened up about his recovery from the shooting, which took place in San Francisco’s Union Square district shortly after 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. San Francisco Police said a 17 year old “attempted to rob” the NFL player and steal his luxury watch. During the physical altercation, Pearsall was shot through the chest and rushed to the hospital after a first responder sealed the wound with her hand until paramedics arrived.

“My first thought throughout the incident was if I was going to be alive or not,” Pearsall recounted after the game Sunday. “Once I knew that I was going to be okay, and that I was going to live, the next question came: Was I going to be able to play football? And as soon as I got that answer, a light grew inside of me and I was super excited to hear that from the doctors.”

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That light didn’t grow easily, though. “For the first few days after that, it was pretty brutal,” he recalled. “But I’ve got a lot of good people around me. I’ve got a lot of good family members, a strong foundation, a lot of good people in this locker room…it helped me get through that.”

Pearsall said he broke down in tears when 49ers general manager John Lynch was one of the first people to arrive at the hospital to check on him. “It hit a little different knowing that I wasn’t going to be able to play Week 1,” Pearsall said. “I was super excited and just the way it went down, it made me a little bit emotional. But seeing him there, that’s when it all hit.”Ricky Pearsall hugs San Francisco 49ers teammate George Kittle.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty

The Phoenix native said the “biggest hurdle for me was the recovery from the wound” because there had been a lot of scar tissue that built up around where the bullet entered and exited his body. But his mind remained set on football through it all, telling reporters it was a “common question” for him to ask when he could play again.

That moment finally came Sunday with 1:32 left in the first half when Pearsall caught his first reception from teammate Brock Purdy, drawing an enormous cheer from the hometown fans.

“When you go through adversity like that, it only makes you stronger,” he said, adding later about the biggest lesson from the last two months: “Every day is not promised.”