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New San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was a teammate of Brandon Aiyuk for one season (2019) at Arizona State. It was Aiyuk's final season with the Sun Devils and Pearsall's first, before transferring to Florida after the 2021 season.
Now, the two are teammates again after the 49ers selected Pearsall with the No. 31 overall pick.
Speaking to reporters after the first round, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that they received a text from Aiyuk after the pick was made.
"Fire pick. Can't lie," Aiyuk said in the text, much to Lynch and Shanahan's delight.
Shortly after hearing his name called, Pearsall spoke to reporters via Zoom and was asked about his relationship with Aiyuk.
"We have a really good relationship," Pearsall stated. "Actually, I just got off the phone with him before I got over here on this Zoom call and he was just congratulating me and getting on the call, telling me over and over, 'You're a first-rounder, man. Soak it up. You deserve it,' all the work that I put in.
"There's been a lot of work put in since the last (time) we ran routes together. I feel like I'm a totally different player since the last time we've seen each other. And he's seen it from afar when he was watching me at Florida, and I was watching him with the Niners. It'll be really good to team back up with him and get active."
Pearsall is also familiar with his new quarterback, Brock Purdy, but from playing against him in high school. Both grew up in Arizona.
"I guess I'll be the first to admit it. We played each other," Pearsall said. "I think he put 70 on my team. He's a hell of a player. I remember him for sure because he was in the end zone a lot and threw a lot of touchdowns. I'm excited to play with him this time."
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The NFLPA invited 40 players to its annual rookie premiere in Los Angeles from May 16-19. A list provided by the union to teams of players invited, which includes the top 4 draft picks from Caleb Williams to Marvin Harrison Jr. 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/2zOWBqmyGr— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo)
