Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall, the new 49ers teammates, have a long history together that dates back to high school.

When the two were adolescents, they played football against each other. In 2017, Purdy scored 70 points against Pearsall’s old mater in Perry High’s crushing victory against Corona del Sol High. During their high school careers, the Arizona standouts met on multiple occasions, and Pearsall took opponents like Purdy seriously.

“That’s when I first learned about Purdy, was in high school,” Pearsall said on Wednesday to Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky of “The Morning Roast” on 95.7 The Game. “He had a great year that year. I had to find out who he was because he was posting a lot of statistics and it was evident that we had him on our schedule. I became aware of his identity when we played him.

“Dude, he was undoubtedly underhired compared to the offers he received. Given what he was putting up, he should have been a top recruit; in fact, I believe he won Arizona’s Gatorade Player of the Year award that year. He was having a great time, and then he proceeded to Iowa State to continue his career, which astonished many people who hadn’t expected him to be that good.

However, as a player who faced him, I witnessed it firsthand. I knew he had skill and anticipated it.”

Coming out of Perry High, where the quarterback amassed 8,937 passing yards and 107 touchdowns during his school career and, as Pearsall said, was chosen as Arizona’s 2017–18 Gatorade Player of the Year, Purdy was regarded as a three-star prospect.

Selecting Iowa State over Alabama, Texas A&M, Illinois, and UCF, the quarterback went on to become a three-time member of the All-Big 12 team while playing for the Cyclones. He set 32 school records in terms of career pass attempts, completion percentage, yards, and touchdowns (81) and total (100).

The 49ers selected Purdy dead last in the 2022 draft, and the rest is history for Mr. Irrelevant, who has spent his whole football career fighting against doubters. With Pearsall, whom the 49ers selected No. 31 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, Purdy now has a new weapon after leading San Francisco to Super Bowl LVIII in his first full season as the starter.

It’s also evident that Pearsall has a great deal of respect for his new quarterback, even if the two were rivals in high school.