Ricky Pearsall is the most interesting 49er in 2025. We spent a practice trailing him (paywall) “He goes through a ground-up warmup, beginning by rubbing a small massage ball on the bottom of his feet.

“Everything starts with your feet, right?” Pearsall said. “And Elliott’s (director of functional performance Elliott Williams) doing some toe stuff. I know it sounds weird, but we’re doing a lot of toe stuff. We’ve got a foot fetish on this team or something.”

Pearsall works his way up his body, stretching and warming his calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes and hips. He pays special attention to his ankles with controlled articular rotations (CARs) and other exercises. For Pearsall, ankle flexibility is paramount.

“When I come out (of breaks), I feel like that foot angle I’m at, it all

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