The answer to the first question came quickly, and doctors assured Pearsall that, although his trauma was severe, he was committed to living to tell the tale. The solution to the second required more than one evaluation and a long and complicated evening.
And although doctors informed Pearsall on the morning of September 1 that, yes, playing catcher for the San Francisco 49ers could still be in his month, the real decision came on Sunday, when he pulled out his Pink Negative. 14 on his shoulder pads and played in his first NFL regular season game against the Kansas Town Chiefs.
It was a 50-day year in the making.
“It meant everything,” Pearsall said, speaking publicly on the first day since filming. “Obviously, all the adversity I’ve been through these last few months, it was really good to be out with my guys again… At the end of the day, when the incident first happened, the first thing I thought about was ‘The guys and the coaches.’ “In this locker room, the whole staff, they did a really good job supporting me, making sure I stayed awake, and it was a big blessing to me.”
Pearsall’s path back to the football outfield may be shorter than anyone on the Niners expected in the first place, but it also wasn’t entirely sudden given how quickly his healing went through each step of the process.
On August 31, Pearsall was shopping for groceries in the Union Sq. segment of downtown San Francisco when, according to police reports, a 17-year-old high school student near Tracy, California, attempted to rob him. An altercation ensued in which both Pearsall and the suspect were shot. Pearsall had little time to go to the San Francisco General Sanitarium, where he was thought to be in “serious but stable condition.”
As Pearsall recounted his emotions from that moment after Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, he smiled at the end of a conversation he won with Niners general supervisor John Lynch, who was one of the first to contact the doctor. institution.
“That’s probably when I burst into tears when I saw it,” Pearsall said. “Just because it was a little different knowing that I wasn’t going to be able to play Week 1… I was super excited and the way it happened made me a little emotional. But seeing it there, that’s when it all happened.”
The moment Pearsall found out he was likely going to be out at some point, he and the Niners also knew how lucky he was. The bullet that hit him was “from beginning to end”, that is, it entered through the right side of the entrance to his chest and exited through his back.
After some daily tests and x-rays to ensure there was no more serious nerve injury, Pearsall was discharged (see timing) without undergoing surgery. He was on the record for non-football trauma, which meant he would have to sit out at least four games before he could return.
But Pearsall was back at the Niners facility less than 48 hours after he was shot and briefly began running to the outfield. Pearsall said Sunday that the biggest physical obstacle to his healing was scar tissue in the section of the wound. That buildup of scar tissue was, according to Pearsall, under the armpit and could be found from the chest to the back.
From there, it was about recovering the full dimension of movement in the right arm and shoulder. When that happened a couple of weeks ago, the Niners and Pearsall finally felt comfortable opening their 21-day practice window.
That started in extreme fashion on Monday, providing a direct burst of power to a Niners team that was coming off a win Thursday night in Seattle.
“We celebrated almost all week with him,” said educator Kyle Shanahan. “It was great to have him back. We were great in practice and today he was going to relax a little bit… It’s great to have him back.”
Even with No. 3 receiver Jauan Jennings out due to hip trauma, the 49ers planned to return Pearsall to the mix in their first game on Sunday. Those plans began to change early when receiver Deebo Samuel left the next four plays with an illness. They changed dramatically when Brandon Aiyuk recovered from what the team fears is a torn ACL in his right knee.
“It meant everything. Obviously, all the adversity that I went through these last few months, it was really good to get out with my guys again… When the incident first happened, the first thing I thought about was the guys and the coaches in this locker room, the whole staff, they did a really good job supporting me, making sure I stayed awake, and it was a big blessing for me.”
49ers WR Ricky Pearsall
If, as expected, Aiyuk misses this season, it appears there will be enough additional opportunities for Pearsall to build on the three catches for 21 yards he had against the Chiefs.
“He runs really good routes, really fast, explosive,” tight end George Kittle said. “The NFL is a land of opportunity. Injuries happen, things happen and who’s going to step up? Who’s going to rise to the occasion and take advantage of the opportunity? That’s what the NFL is.”
With 1:32 left in the first half, quarterback Brock Purdy found Pearsall over the middle for a 6-yard gain. It was a pretty unremarkable first catch, but Kansas Town called a timeout immediately afterward in an attempt to get the ball back before halftime.
That timeout allowed the 49ers fans in attendance to stand and exchange a brief status ovation for Pearsall. That year, Pearsall said his passing burden began to ease when his teammates congratulated him and let him know how proud they were of him.
When the game ended, Pearsall made it clear that he preferred the assist, but more than anything else, he was excited to have the opportunity to do it all again in the future.
“Physically I feel great,” Pearsall said, smiling. “I feel like I could play another game right now.”
