The San Francisco 49ers’ run of injury-marred seasons, a looming Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, and a viral online thread have dragged a once-fringe idea into the NFL mainstream.
The theory links San Francisco’s soft-tissue injuries to electromagnetic fields from an electrical substation near the team’s Santa Clara facility. A claim that’s now drawn attention from scientists, league officials, the 49ers, and even Christian McCaffrey, who says he’s mindful of EMF exposure personally while stopping well short of endorsing the more extreme conspiracy claims.
Christian McCaffrey Addresses EMF Injury Theory
Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, McCaffrey made clear that he does not dismiss electromagnetic fields or exposure to modern devices as meaningless background noise. “When it comes to EMFs and 5G and phones and blue light and Wi‑Fi, it’s not nothing,” McCaffrey told the Chronicle.
He tied those concerns directly to hydration, saying, “A lot of those things, what I’ve found, can be dehydrating, if you’re on your phone all the time, or your EMFs, it can dehydrate you a little bit. I won’t get into the science behind it, but if that’s the case, I think you need to increase your electrolyte and water intake.”
McCaffrey, whose 2024 season was limited by calf and knee issues before returning to form in 2025, framed his comments in the context of a broader, long‑standing obsession with recovery and body maintenance. “As somebody who obsesses over my body and being healthy all the time, I look into everything, and that’s definitely something you’ll look into,” he said.
“If it is something that can affect you, it’s worth (it) to look into and see how to maybe combat it. Do I think it’s as drastic as what people are saying? No, but if it is something, I’ll look into it, just like I’ll look into the way I train, where I train, how I train, when I train.”
His stance mirrors a growing posture inside the organization: not fully buying into the most alarmist versions of the theory, but also not dismissing player concerns out of hand.
McCaffrey’s comments arrived after general manager John Lynch publicly committed to examining the issue, citing both the volume of injuries and the need to address what players are talking about in the locker room.
What Is Levi’s Stadium Electric Conspiracy Theory?
The theory centers on the Silicon Valley Power Mission Substation near Levi’s Stadium, with a viral thread suggesting low-frequency EMFs could weaken soft tissue over time — an idea that’s been quietly joked about and discussed inside the 49ers’ locker room as players and agents wonder if it’s another factor behind the team’s injury issues.
Scientific and league voices, however, have largely pushed back. Multiple experts cited in recent reporting say there is no firmly established evidence that non‑ionizing EMFs from a facility like the Mission Substation can damage DNA or weaken soft tissue.
Bristol Medical School’s Frank de Vocht called the idea “nonsense,” while UC Davis radiology professor Jerrold Bushberg told Front Office Sports, “there is no firmly established evidence” supporting those claims.
Northwestern professor Gayle Woloschak explained that non‑ionizing radiation, unlike ionizing radiation from nuclear reactors, is not known to directly damage DNA or cells, and long‑running research has not identified clear soft‑tissue effects.
The NFL has also addressed the issue publicly. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills said he is “not familiar with anything in the sports medicine literature” that supports a causal link between EMFs and the type of soft‑tissue injuries the 49ers have suffered, while cautioning that injury causation is complex and rarely driven by a single factor.
Sills also warned against drawing conclusions from incomplete, publicly available injury data and said internal league records do not show San Francisco leading the NFL in non‑contact lower‑extremity injuries.
Lynch, for his part, described the theory as “allegedly” dealing with player health and safety and said the team is “reaching out to anyone and everyone” to see whether valid studies exist, promising to “look at everything” as the 49ers continue trying to mitigate injuries rather than assuming they can eliminate them entirely.
