San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch has revealed the team is looking into a wild conspiracy theory that claims an electrical substation is to blame for their long-running injury crisis.
Over the past decade the Niners have been crippled by endless injuries, losing a staggering $95million in salary cap value to players on their injured lists in 2025 alone.
And according to researcher Peter Cowan, a board-certified quantum biology practitioner, San Francisco’s fitness problems may be the result of chronic exposure to ‘low-frequency electromagnetic fields’ from an electrical substation located right next to their stadium and practice facility.
After Cowan’s theory recently went viral on X, George Kittle’s season-ending Achilles tear in their playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week brought it even further into the spotlight.
So much so that the Niners have been assessing it behind the scenes.
‘Because it deals with, allegedly, the health and safety of our players, you have to look into everything,’ Lynch said about the theory in a press conference with head coach Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday.
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch (left) has revealed the team is looking into a wild conspiracy theory about an electrical substation causing injuries
The theory claims San Francisco’s injury problems are the result of the nearby substation
‘Our guys have been, we’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see if a study does exist.
‘We will look into it, we have.’
The Silicon Valley Power Mission Substation sits next to the 49ers’ Santa Clara base and it’s claimed the EMF waves can damage tendons and cause soft-tissue damage.
The theory has gathered momentum in the wake of Kittle’s Achilles injury, and now former San Francisco tight end Delanie Walker has poured fuel on the fire.
Walker, who was drafted by the 49ers 2006 and remained in San Francisco until 2012, claims there were concerns over the substation back then.
‘That’s been an issue since I’ve been there – they talked about moving that electrical substation because when I was there,’ he told the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.
‘It was said that it was giving people cancer… so then they pushed it back a little bit and just took some of it away.’
He added: ‘You can even feel it sometimes – I don’t know what it is – you can feel the energy. And then a transformer exploded one day we were at practice.
George Kittle’s Achilles tear has fueled the conspiracy theory about the 49ers’ fitness issues
‘That s*** sounded like a f***ing bomb went off. I was like: ‘This is dangerous” but they’re not going to move it.’
There are trees near the substation and Walker this week insisted: ‘Everything dies where the power station is.’
The retired tight end, 41, claimed that research was done into the possible impact of the site but that players were given guarantees that the practice facility is safe.
‘They would start telling us: this may cause cancer, this is a study they’re doing. They had doctors coming up there,’ he said.
‘We may have signed something, I’m going to be honest,’ Walker continued. ‘I heard they were like: “Oh it may make your ligaments weak” and I’m like: ‘God Damn, that’s crazy.’ And then when I saw the picture I thought: We practiced right there too. that’s the craziest s*** ever.’
