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Throughout his NFL journey, Eric Saubert had largely managed to sidestep the misfortune of injuries.
However, as the Seattle Seahawks tight end found himself grappling with calf and hamstring problems during the 2025 season—a season that saw his team charge toward the Super Bowl—he chalked it up to a combination of ill fate and the inevitable challenges of aging beyond 30.
Yet, the emergence of a curious internet theory has given him pause for thought.
Last season, Saubert was part of the San Francisco 49ers, a team whose practice facility and stadium sit adjacent to an electrical substation that powers the tech hub of Silicon Valley. This substation, established in 1987 and expanded in 2014 when the Niners transitioned to Levi’s Stadium, has become the focal point of a speculative buzz.
As Super Bowl week unfolds in San Francisco, the viral theory captivating attention suggests that prolonged exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields from such substations might gradually weaken tissues and tendons, potentially leading to the kind of injuries that can derail entire seasons.
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.Â
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.’Â
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.Â