You're Damn Right 49ers Are Investigating Whether Electrical Substation Next Door Is Causing Injuries

The San Francisco 49ers have practiced in Santa Clara, Calif. since 2014 next to an electrical substation that was expanded, almost quadrupling its size, around the time Levi's Stadium was built. And that, the conspiracy theory goes, is the reason the 49ers have been among the NFL's leaders in injuries for years, including in 2025.

Except it's not a conspiracy theory anymore.

It's now a conspiracy theory investigation by the 49ers. 

John Lynch Says Team Investigating

"What I would tell you, because it deals with allegedly the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything," President of Football Operations and general manager John Lynch said Wednesday, much to the surprise of some reporters that previously dismissed the subject as X Files type stuff.

"So, our guys have been, we've been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see does a study exist other than a guy sticking an apparatus underneath the fence and by coming up with a number that I have no idea what that means. 

"That's what we know exists. We've heard that debunked. So yes, we will look into it. We have. The health and safety of our players is of the utmost priority. We pour into it. Our ownership, [CEO] Jed [York], tremendous in terms of resources, and we'll always be cognizant of things. I know that a lot of games have been won at this facility since it opened. But we aren't going to turn a blind eye. We'll look into everything."

Cue the X Files theme music …

49ers Suffered Long Line Of Injuries

The fact that the 49ers ended their season in a divisional round loss to the Seattle Seahawks is a disappointment. But it's also an accomplishment because the team suffered the kind of catastrophic injuries that would prevent many teams from ever getting that far.

Consider:

• Premier edge rusher Nick Bosa tore his ACL and missed all but three games in 2025. It's the second time since 2020 that he played three games or fewer in a season.
• Linebacker Fred Warner missed 11 games with an ankle injury.
• Starting quarterback Brock Purdy missed eight games with a foot injury.
• Receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who has played his final snap for the team, missed the entire season after tearing his ACL, MCL, and meniscus in October 2024.
• Tight end George Kittle missed suffered a Grade 3 torn hamstring early in the season that forced him to miss five games, then had an ankle injury near the end of the season that cost him another game, then he ruptured an Achilles tendon in a playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles that led to him getting bottle service in the locker room.

Lynch, Shanahan Discuss Injuries

The truth is asking Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan for a postseason update on injuries is more than a housekeeping question. It's a request for a reading of War and Peace.

"You know, [LB] Nick [Martin} was in the [concussion] protocol," Lynch said, "and I think he's been improving, but the protocol's the protocol. We hope to have him clear here soon."

"[Tight end Jake] Tonges was three weeks," Shanahan said before adding, "[RB] Christian [McCaffrey] had a stinger he'll be alright from. [DL] Alfred [Collins] with his shoulder. He might possibly have to look into surgery, Alfred Collins. His shoulder went out in the game"

The club is hoping Bosa will be ready "around training camp."

And Kittle "was down for a little bit, but he's already flipped the switch to recover. George will attack it in a great way. We're very hopeful to have him back," Lynch added. "We expect to have him back next year and a big impact, like he always has been for us."

Players Joke Substation Causes Injuries

Except that substation will still be there. Looming. Humming. 

Possibly doing unseen things to the 49ers players, some of whom use gallows humor to discuss how the substation causes their injuries. 

Paul Brodeur wrote two books about how electromotive force (EMF) poses a threat to human health, and how it has been covered up by industry, and the government as high up as the Pentagon and the State Department.

EMF is the energy per unit of charge that a source (like a battery, generator, or solar cell) provides to drive current in a circuit, measured in Volts (Joules per Coulomb).

And EMFs being harmful has gotten attention because studies have shown how cell phones and wireless earbuds emit EMFs and that it can be harmful to people.

The 49ers are apparently checking if they cause ankle injuries.