SANTA CLARA — The most touching moment of the 49ers’ season: when Ricky Pearsall’s first career catch prompted a standing ovation from fans in his Oct. 20 debut at Levi’s Stadium.
Everyone was on his side, knowing he overcame a gunshot wound through his chest, suffered just seven weeks earlier in an attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square.
If that round of applause Oct. 20 didn’t highlight his rookie year, perhaps it was his first touchdown Nov. 10 at Tampa Bay, or the next touchdown that came amid Monday night’s eight-catch, 141-yard showcase in the 49ers’ 40-34 loss to Detroit.
“All those moments have been great,” Pearsall said Thursday, “but my favorite part has been building all these new relationships in this building here, having amazing teammates, amazing coaches, amazing people in this building.
“Shout out to the top of this organization for putting these guys in this building, and for me that’s the biggest thing I could take away, is the good people in here and them having my back, and me having theirs. It’s been easy for me.”
Easy?!
Pearsall, the 49ers’ first-round draft pick, overcame other injuries (a twice-dislocated shoulder, a summer hamstring strain) to learn one of the NFL’s most complex offenses while the 49ers (6-10) careened out of the NFC throne and into last place of the NFC West.
Born in Phoenix 24 years ago, he returns to Arizona on Sunday to face the Cardinals (7-9) and complete a rookie season that, in all fairness, came with no expectations once he survived that Aug. 31 shooting, after allegedly fighting for his life with an 18-year-old assailant.
“You can always find positives in the darkness. That’s something I took away from it,” Pearsall said. “It was easy for me to look at all the adversity and be negative on myself. There’s positives and learning lessons that came from that.”
One of the most publicized lessons came Dec. 22, when Pearsall got chewed out on the 49ers’ sideline by wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson. Pearsall had egregiously lined up wrong twice on a series to draw penalties and short-circuit a potential scoring drive.
Thursday, Pearsall commended Hankerson as a “great coach” who simply had to “do his job,” and that helped Pearsall fix his mistakes. The proof came Monday night.
“I was happy that he got more opportunities, that it worked out that way,” coach Kyle Shanahan said, “And when he did, he came through with them and showed the stuff that we like about him, so that everyone could see it.”
Pearsall’s 141 yards were the third-largest output by a 49ers’ rookie receiver, behind Jerry Rice (241 yards; 1985 vs. the Rams) and Dave Parks (146 yards; 1964 vs. the Vikings).
“We’ve all seen that in Ricky since he’s been here, the way he runs routes and he is explosive,” quarterback Brock Purdy said after Monday’s game. “We just need to get him in some really good situations and get him the ball because he’s a playmaker. Tonight to be able to do that for him, really happy for him. I know that’ll be good for us moving forward just our chemistry.”
That connection is key to the 49ers’ future years, but it is on hold until next season. Purdy, because of a late-game elbow injury Monday night, will not play in the season finale, turning the 49ers’ starting role over for the first time to Josh Dobbs.
With Pearsall’s Monday night breakout, the 49ers became the NFL’s first team since 2021 to have five players produce a 100-yard receiving game in a season, the others coming from George Kittle (four), Deebo Samuel (two), Brandon Aiyuk (one) and Jauan Jennings (one).
“I’m always going to be a confident player out there. Being a receiver, I always have to expect I’m going to have a game like that,” Pearsall said. “So, that just comes from over time, training my mind to be like that. Obviously when the ball’s coming your way, it’s a lot easier.”
After 11 catches on 15 targets (132 yards) in his first three games, Pearsall went dormant, catching one pass on only five targets in the next four games.
Pearsall not only missed the first six games this season recovering from the gunshot wound through his left chest, he fell behind by missing most of training camp, first with the hamstring injury and then his second shoulder dislocation. This week, he’s been limited by “illness/chest,” as the 49ers described it.
The last time Pearsall appeared on the 49ers’ injury report because of a chest issue: Week 7, before his first catch in that loss to the Chiefs.
Not many 49ers have merited a round of applause this season. Not many pulled off what Pearsall did. But he never once has crowed about persevering on his own.
Nine days after he got shot, he was at the 49ers’ home opener, honoring San Francisco Police Sergeant Joelle Harrell and Dr. Lucy Kornblith for their life-saving efforts. Thursday, he was all about thanking his 49ers teammates, adding: “Those adverse moments make me a strong person. Everything happens for a reason, and God has a plan.”
