Shannon Sharpe and Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson argued that Ricky Pearsall was wrong for not handing over his Rolex as soon as it was stolen after he suffered a gunshot wound on Saturday.
The two former NFL pros, considered some of the “most influential athletes on social media,” spoke about Pearsall’s near-death experience on their podcast, Nightcap, just hours after the incident.
Pearsall was walking alone shortly after 3:30 p.m. when a suspect attempted to rob him with a gun on Geary Boulevard in the Union Square area of San Francisco on Saturday.
The rookie wide receiver refused to hand over his watch as he tried to fend off the robber, who was also found wounded by his own gunshot, police said.
“No material thing is worth your life,” Nightcap wrote over footage of Sharpe and Johnson reacting to Pearsall’s plight.
Ricky Pearsall was walking down a street in San Francisco when he was robbed in broad daylight.
“Ricky Pearsall was shot in an attempted robbery… He’s in critical condition but stable,” Sharpe said, to which Johnson replied: “He’s OK, he’s OK. There’s another lesson in this. Nothing is worth your life.”
“You can buy another Rolex. If someone tries to steal your car, you can buy another one.”
“If someone comes up to you and doesn’t have a gun or a knife and says, ‘Ocho, surrender,’ are you going to take it away from you that easily?” Sharpe asked his co-host.
Without hesitation, Johnson replied, “Yes! If someone comes up to you and says, ‘Let me get whatever it is out of you,’ you know they have it in their hands.”
Pearsall and the suspect confronted each other in Union Square in San Francisco on Saturday.
Police identified the suspect as a 17-year-old male from Tracy, California, about 63 miles (101 kilometers) east of San Francisco, who was also transported to San Francisco General Hospital.
His condition was not immediately disclosed.
A gun believed to belong to the suspect was recovered and investigators believe he acted alone, police said, adding that there was no indication Pearsall was targeted because he is a player on the city’s football team.