Viral conspiracy theories have run amok across the world of sports for some time, but the latest online controversy surrounding the 49ers may take the cake.
Amid San Francisco’s long injury history and the latest blow of a torn ACL for tight end George Kittle in the playoffs, folks across the internet kindly pointed out the presence of an electrical substation right beside the 49ers’ facilities. On Jan. 6, Peter Cowan pointed out on his X account @living_energy that the Niners are statistically the most injured team across the NFL, even going to the length of testing electric frequencies near the team’s practice fields which turned out to be much higher than typical background exposures.
On Wednesday, 49ers general manager John Lynch addressed the media on numerous topics including receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s future with the team. He was asked about the viral theory as well, noting that the team will look into it.
“Because it deals with allegedly the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything,” Lynch said. “Our guys have been, we’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see does a study exist rather than a guy sticking an apparatus underneath the fence and coming up with a number that I have no idea what that means. That’s what we know exists, we’ve heard that debunked, so yes, we will look into it.
“The health and safety of our players is of the utmost priority, we pour into it.”
About that viral video blaming 49ers injuries on an electrical substation…
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) January 21, 2026
John Lynch says they’ll look into it. pic.twitter.com/dX5NMuFSgQ
The 49ers were eliminated from the playoffs in a 41-6 blowout at the hands of the Seahawks on Saturday. San Francisco lost three top players to season-ending injuries this season with Nick Bosa and Fred Warner going down before Kittle’s injury in the Niners’ win over the Eagles in the wild-card round.
Maybe there’s something to the theory, maybe there’s nothing. Whatever the answer may be, Lynch says the organization will get to the bottom of it.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as GM John Lynch Shares 49ers' Stance on Viral Electrical Substation Injury Theory.
