The San Francisco 49ers have insisted their electrical substation is not leading to player injuries after turning to independent experts to get to the bottom of the wild rumors.
The injuries that have ravaged the organization in recent years have fueled wild conspiracy theories over the power station near the team’s facilities.
Speculation grew as the injuries continued to pile up in the postseason, including when star tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles.
It prompted 49ers general manager John Lynch to admit in February that the Niners had been forced into assessing it behind the scenes.
Now, Lynch has revealed that an independent scientist hired to look into the issue has dismissed the concerns once and for all.
‘He basically said it was a big nothing burger,’ Lynch told reporters at the NFL league meetings Sunday in Phoenix, dispelling the wild theories.
49ers GM John Lynch (left) has revealed the team hired an independent scientist
A theory claimed San Francisco’s injury problems are the result of the nearby substation
‘We’re safe. We’re in a safe place of work. The levels are 400 times less than an unsafe zone. So it’s a normal place of work, it’s a normal gym. We are safe, we’re healthy, and we feel really good about that.’
The theory began in January when researcher Peter Cowan shares a series of posts on X, suggesting that the power station had contributed to the Niners’ injury crisis.
According to 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, Kittle’s season-ending Achilles tear in their playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles brought it even further into the spotlight.
Even Kittle himself appeared to endorse it when he weighed in on the theory. In fact, the NFL star added another layer to the speculation.
‘The one thing that messes me up with it, this is tough, my rookie season there used to be trees in between the substation and our practice facility,’ he began to explain on an appearance on Complex News in February.
‘There’s a fence there too and above the fence all the trees had no leafs on them, year round, all dead. Nobody notices it until you point it out. I didn’t point it out to Kyle Shanahan until 2021. A vet pointed it out to me my rookie season and I was like “That’s kind of weird”.
‘But then this year the NFL came in and cut them all down. So they’re not there anymore so no one can see them. So it’s only us vets that know that was the truth. I don’t think anyone talked about that yet. That one messed me up.’
George Kittle s season-ending Achilles tear in January only fueled the conspiracy theory
Former San Francisco tight end Delanie Walker even poured fuel on the fire, expressing his own fears over the proximity.
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.
‘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.’
