Eric Saubert had never really struggled with injuries during his NFL career.
So when the Seattle Seahawks tight end was blighted by calf and hamstring issues in 2025 as his team powered their way to the Super Bowl, he thought it was a mix of bad luck and being the wrong side of 30.
That was until the internet stepped in. Now, he’s not so sure.
Saubert played for the San Francisco 49ers last season, whose practice facility and stadium are next to an electrical substation that powers Silicon Valley. The substation has been there since 1987 but was expanded in 2014, the same time the Niners moved to Levi’s Stadium.
The now viral internet theory that everyone is talking about on Super Bowl week in San Francisco goes that the low frequency electromagnetic fields can, over time, weaken tissue and tendons causing injuries that leave seasons in ruin.
Whether that’s true or not is for the scientists to work out but it’s enough of a concern that the 49ers have launched an investigation.
What cannot be questioned, however, is the team’s reputation for injuries piling up – and Saubert wonders if it might have cost him time on his team’s run to football’s biggest game.
Eric Saubert says he has had more injuries than before after playing for San Francisco 49ers
It comes amid a viral conspiracy that an electrical substation next to the Super Bowl stadium leaves players more vulnerable to injuries
‘There’s a lot of mystery behind that,’ Saubert, 31, told Daily Mail. ‘I played for the 49ers last year and I’ve been joking this year that this is the most games I’ve missed due to injury in my career.
‘I don’t know if that’s a coincidence but I was around that substation a lot last year.
‘We joke around but I don’t know if there is actual merit to the science. Hopefully we can make it out in one piece on Sunday.’
Saubert, meanwhile, missed practice last week with his hamstring problem but is off the injury report and ready to go for the Super Bowl at the place he used to call home. But his fellow tight end, AJ Barner, was more defiant about playing next to the substation.
‘I’ve heard about it and quite honestly yeah, I think they should probably get rid of it,’ he said.
‘Anything they can do to keep the players safe, they should do.’
The Seahawks play in San Francisco once a season as part of the NFC West but not every Seattle hero is as worried as Barner.
‘I don’t have no idea about any of that,’ Seahawks defensive end Demarcus Lawrence said. ‘How long has the stadium been by [the substation]? 2014? And how many times did they go to the NFC divisional championship? Four? It didn’t hurt them then.’
‘We joke around but I don’t know if there is actual merit to the science. Hopefully we can make it out in one piece on Sunday,’ Saubert (pictured) said.
Fellow tight end AJ Barner said that the 49ers should get rid of the substation by the stadium
But in a game where marginal gains can decide championships, many players who think the theory is crazy still aren’t prepared to rule it out completely.
‘I’ve seen that, I thought you all are crazy for that,’ Seahawks wide receiver Montorie Foster said when the alleged link was put to him. ‘But you never know though, a lot of science is backed into this stuff.’
The New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins, notoriously studious with his health, scrutinized those who didn’t think there was a link.
‘I feel like there’s been a lot of studies on plants where you put an EMF next to a plant and it doesn’t grow as well,’ Hollins said on the opening night of Super Bowl week.
‘I’m not a scientist though. There has to be some correlation, but I don’t know if you can say ACLs are tearing though because of that.
‘If they have significantly higher injuries than other places though, it has to be something, whether it is that or something else. There must be a cause for it.’
As the 49ers look into any links, owner Jed York was defiant on Tuesday that his players are safe and that there is no link to injuries.
‘We’ll look into it but we’ve been there since 1987 and this is the first time someone has bought it up,’ York said to Kay Adams. ‘I think we can debunk it. If I knew (what was causing so many injuries) I would wave my magic wand and fix it.’
But even after the Super Bowl leaves town, this isn’t something that is going away anytime soon for the 49ers.
