One of the strangest story lines to emerge from the 2025 NFL season has come from the electrical substation that resides just outside of the San Francisco 49ers’ practice facility, as well as its potential contributions to the various injuries that the franchise has endured throughout the past several seasons.
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At first, it seemed like the latest internet conspiracy theory, but now that both the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots have passed on the opportunity to use the 49ers’ facilities ahead of their matchup at Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium, fans are beginning to wonder if they might know something that we don’t.
The NFL’s chief medical officer has downplayed the idea, insisting that there is no evidence of a possible connection between prolonged exposure to electrical substations and torn ligaments. The team’s star linebacker, Fred Warner, has also dismissed the idea, citing the fact that the 49ers have an “older roster” and that they simply “train harder than many other teams.”
49ers are investigating the viral conspiracy theory that the electrical substation near their training facility and Levi’s Stadium is contributing to their injuries.
Story via @nwagoner:https://t.co/hgyB2jOYSC
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 22, 2026
Nevertheless, ESPN’s Senior NFL Insider, Adam Schefter, reported in late January that the franchise will be “investigating” the matter once the season has officially come to an end. And according to Dr. Christina Gavegnano from the Emory University Center for the Study of Human Health, there may be some validity to the Super Bowl participant’s decision to abstain from practicing near the substation, even if she “can’t say for sure.”
“Any number of things that our bodies are exposed to has the potential to be detrimental,” she explained. “You grow up hearing ‘don’t live near power lines.’ I can’t say for sure about the theory. I would say anything extra that you are exposed to long-term is probably not a good thing…Collagen breakdown can come from inflammatory factors.”
Another medical specialist, Dr. Alexis Cowan, who received her PHD at Josh Rabinowitz’s lab at Princeton University, took a slightly different approach to the matter.
According to her, there’s a very real chance that the 49ers are being exposed to various amounts of electromagnetic frequencies, and just like Dr. Gavegnano also mentioned, the idea of prolonged exposure to that is worth considering.
“It would be great to have records around when updates were made to that substation.” Dr. Covan stated. “There are a lot of variables. Depending on the time of day and the load on the grid, the magnetic flux coming off of that thing could be magnitudes higher… The important thing to remember about electromagnetic fields is that there is something called the Inverse Square Law… It states that the closer you are to a source of EMFs, the higher the dose you receive.”
It’s not often that you shift from talking about football to physical science laws in the same conversation, but that transition perfectly encapsulates the sheer absurdity of this entire saga. Simply put, nobody knows what’s going on, but they do know that something is amiss here, and that’s more than enough to make this story worth following throughout the upcoming offseason.
