For Ricky Pearsall, his rookie year hasn’t been normal. The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver had to wait for seven freaking weeks for his debut. It’s not the coach who had doubts about his talent, but an off-field incident became the culprit behind it. Well, Pearsall’s incident once again became the talk of the town after their week 18 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

The 24-year-old Pearsall was to debut on Sept 10 against the Jets. But a 19-year-old attacker shot him in the chest on the streets of San Francisco on August 31. That too, for a petty robbery. The attacker just wanted to take Pearsall’s Rolex. The WR reflected on his bad experience in the field. He did a gunshot wound celebration after the six-yard touchdown against the Cardinals matchup along with 6 receptions and 69 receiving yards. That was unbelievable. But hold on; he also made a bold statement for the 19-year-old kid post-game.

When reporters approached Pearsall to ask about the gunshot wound celebration and all, he quietly delivered a message to the 19-year-old kid who shot him. Pearsall said, “I don’t know how he grew up so, I can’t judge him as a man just based off one action that he made. As violent as a crime as it was, god forbid him doing that to somebody else.”

Pearsall further said, “I don’t ever want that to happen so… just being able to forgive him at the end of the day like, I have to be able to forgive him to have that weight off my chest. At some point, I do want to talk to the kid and make sure that, if I can create an impact on him in any way I think that would be really big. I’d be definitely open to doing that.” That’s a great gesture by Ricky Pearsall. The wide receiver has reached that point in life where he is forgiving people who hurt him.

In fact, that shot in the chest could have ended his life. However, how he did find a way to respond to that highlighted day in his life. With a touchdown celebration. That’s dope. But wait, his celebration may turn against him.

Ricky Pearsall may face punishment from the NFL

The NFL is very particular and vigilant about the celebrations. People have seen many players being fined for the weird touchdown celebrations. The latest example of potential punishment by the NFL for a celebration was the Cincinnati Bengals‘ Chase Brown. He did a red Salvation Army kettle celebration at the AT&T Stadium.

Though the Bengals player was not fined there was a high chance the NFL fined him. Similarly, Ricky Pearsall’s celebration can get flagged by the league for the celebration as it involves guns also. The league is very aware of the unsportsmanlike conduct on the field by any player. The league fined Chiefs TE Travis Kelce $14,069 for unsportsmanlike conduct during their season finale against the Broncos.

So, Ricky Pearsall may get fined and there is a high possibility. That’s in the air. But one thing is clear, the wide receiver may meet and impact the person who has made him suffer. And that’s a sign of true gentleman!