Posted on 01/15/2026 2:47:41 PM PST by nickcarraway
The San Francisco 49ers are hoping to advance, so they can get some of their key players back from injuries in the coming weeks.
It has been another season plagued by the injury bug, and there's a wild theory circulating on social media that attempts to explain why.
The 49ers have called their current practice facility and stadium in Santa Clara home since 2014. Since then, they've been among the league's worst in missed games due to injury.
This week, a self-proclaimed researcher on social media named Peter Cowan claimed it's the substation next door that's to blame -- particularly the electromagnetic fields coming from it.
"I can actually understand if people are getting injured, looking around at different variables, making jokes and saying what could be happening," said ABC7 News Contributor Dr. Alok Patel.
Cowan's post has nearly 10 million views on X and claims exposure to EMF can weaken tendons and cause soft-tissue damage.
He said that could explain the injuries the 49ers have seen. There was no talk of this theory among current players at an availability at the facility on Friday. But a former 49er said that it has been a topic of discussion in the locker room in the past.
Former 49ers guard Jon Faciliano shared Cowan's thread on X and has reportedly said his teammates would joke about the electrical substation.
He was not available for an interview Friday, but we did speak with Patel about the theory.
"What a wild headline and claim," Patel said. "Somebody actually sent this to me earlier this morning. There are some laboratory studies that have shown that high levels of acute exposure to electromagnetic fields might cause some cellular damage. But guess what? This isn't a lab setting. You cannot look at lab data and then make a claim that's happening in real human activity in real time. That's a massive leap."
Patel said EMF is different than ionizing radiation that can be harmful to the human body with overexposure. In fact, he said research shows some electromagnetic pulse therapy might actually aid in tissue recovery.
As far as the 49ers injury woes, Patel says overuse injuries from the lack of rest represents a more likely cause than this baseless theory.
"It's valid for people to have questions about low levels of electromagnetic fields, and if they have an exposure, what potential risks might be," Patel said. "But I urge people to go and look up credible sources of information. What this is, is a classic case of correlation is not causation."
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The sun pumps out the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Further since the age of radio nearly the entire populated parts of Earth have been blanketed in EM radiation.
How close have you stood to the Sun?
Some team will always be the best, and another the worst ranking, in a category like “games missed due to injury.”
And if you are the worst, you must blame something....
“Patel says overuse injuries from the lack of rest represents a more likely cause”
Of note: Many good athletes hurt themselves through poor nutrition and especially a lack of rest. Good sleep fixes a lot of stuff.
It is an interesting premise.
SF plays on a grass field.
While the New Jersey Jints play pretty much on concrete.
Have not heard one player say anything good about Met-Life.
Sun pumps out enough radiation to cause sunburns, provide heat, interfere with AM radio etc.
Maybe the SF players’ problems stem from the unsanitary SF air with all the feces odors.
The New York Football Giants are more likely to get cancer.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-24-sp-1995-story.html
Levi’s Stadium is 45 miles from San Francisco.
The usual RF Electromagnetic fields and ionizing radiation are different animals. I don’t think the substation is putting out much Gamma radiation. But just say the word “radiation” and the average idiot thinks an atomic blast and an FM radio are the same thing.
“...an atomic blast and an FM radio are the same thing...”
Well, they are on the same spectrum....
The bastards are just looking for deep pockets.
Women are also on the hot/crazy spectrum. A woman at one point is entirely different from another, even though they are both women..... usually.
There are no double-blind, peer-reviewed studies of standing on the Sun. It is perfectly safe.
LOL. The 49ers have 12 wins - only one team has one more win than them, so your contention they are the worst is laughable.
This is not just about one year - what is the probability they would be the most injured or close almost every year for over a decade?
Huh?
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