The San Francisco 49ers plan to spend the offseason looking into the underlying causes of the team being one most injured teams over the last decade.
As part of the probe, general manager John Lynch announced last week that the 49ers will even look into the viral conspiracy theory suggesting the electrical substation near the training facility and Levi’s Stadium could be contributing to the team’s injury woes.
“Because it deals with, allegedly, the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything, we’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see, does a study exist other 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.”
The theory suggests the 49ers’ injury history, over the last decade, can be linked the excessive exposure to the electromagnetic fields (EMF) near Levi’ Stadium and the Niners practice facility.
The theory has been dismissed by many medical professionals and scientists but Lynch emphasized during his end of year presser that the organization wouldn’t “turn a blind eye” to any possibility that could affect player health and safety.
The 49ers’ training facility has been located in Santa Clara, California, since the late 1980s, with the substation built a few years later. The station was expanded in 2014, in conjunction with the opening of Levi’s Stadium.
Lynch added that the Niners will conduct a detailed assessment of their injury prevention and management strategies, looking well beyond the conspiracy theory to address all potential factors contributing to the issue.
“We’ll look at everything, and we’ll examine everything,” Lynch said.
San Francisco lost several key contributors to season-ending injuries this past campaign. Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and George Kittle were among 20 players the 49ers placed on a reserve list. Quarterback Brock Purdy missed several games due to turf toe, while Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings were sidelined for multiple weeks.
