The Story
I'm Peter Anthony Cowan, and along with Chase Senior, I broke the internet with my viral 49ers electrical substation injury hypothesis. My essay connecting the substation to the team's soft-tissue injuries generated 22M+ views on X, major press coverage, and a steady stream of media requests.
The story has been discussed by Bill Simmons multiple times on his podcast. Then it hit a new level: 49ers GM John Lynch addressed it publicly, and Joe Rogan referenced it on his podcast the following day.
The Timeline
- Sep '25Jon Feliciano jokes about the substation on Willard and Dibs
- Oct '25Chase Senior's X post about the substation goes viral
- Oct '25Dr. Jesse Morse quote-tweets Chase, tying the substation to "the most injured team in the NFL"
- Oct '25I note in @helios_brah's thread there's no public data on the substation's power capacity
- Nov '25Helios bets the magnetic field covers the whole training area, asks for measurements
- Jan 6Posted the first essay on Substack and the X post
- Jan 7Woke up to 500K views, gaining 500K/hour, levelling off at 9M+ views
- Jan 12George Kittle tears Achilles in non-contact injury - exactly the type I predicted - views hit 20M overnight
- Jan 15Will Compton, Taybor Pepper, Delanie Walker, and other ex-players amplify the story
- Jan 15Washington Post, ESPN, SF Chronicle, and major outlets publish coverage
- Jan 18Bill Simmons discusses it multiple times on his podcast
- Jan 21NY Times / The Athletic publishes in-depth analysis; GM John Lynch addresses it at end-of-season presser
- Jan 22Joe Rogan mentions it on his podcast
- Jan 31Scott Ostler in SF Chronicle on the power substation and EMF
- Feb 3NFLPA announces they're monitoring EMF as a "potential workplace safety issue"
- Feb 449ers CEO Jed York discusses on Up and Adams podcast
- Feb 4Seahawks & Patriots avoid 49ers facility for Super Bowl practices
- Feb 6NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills addresses theory at Radio Row, says league is "open-minded"
- Feb 8Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium - Seahawks defeat Patriots 29-13
- Feb 11George Kittle reveals dead trees were cut down by NFL; wants investigation
- Mar 29Lynch dismisses concerns citing unnamed scientist; no report published
- Mar 30SFGate follows up with ad hominem attack on the messengers
- May 22Silicon Valley Power breaks ground on a new 230kV line interconnecting at the substation
- Jun 23The Athletic and SF Chronicle report 49ers exploring relocation of practice facilities, "running out of space" near Levi's Stadium
- Jul 27Four 49ers go down on Day 1 of training camp; the theory instantly reignites
- Aug 1Ricky Pearsall lost for the season six days into camp
- Aug 4CBS Sports tallies 11+ injuries in week one; Locked On 49ers puts the substation "center stage"
- Aug 5The substation gets its own viral parody X account as memes flood social media
- Aug 11SFist reports ~20 players injured before a single preseason snap
- Aug 12FanSided: camp injuries "only give the substation theory more validity"
- Aug 13Pablo Torre features the theory on his show (I was interviewed twice) — the investigation itself was by Science Vs
- Aug 13I publish "Science Vs Versus the 49ers' Injury Epidemic" in response; PFT concedes the theory "persists"
- Aug 23Kittle comes off the PUP list; McCaffrey returns from calf tightness
- Aug 25Sports Illustrated satirically "interviews" the substation
- Sep 9The 49ers' Melbourne hotel turns out to sit near a substation too
- Sep 10Sporting News: "The substation strikes again" as the season opens with 11 on IR
- Sep 1049ers beat the Rams 27–7 in Melbourne but lose Stribling and Tonges to injuries
- Sep 11Vernon Davis pushes back on the theory: "I'm not buying it"
Legacy media has largely written me off as a "conspiracy theorist" without examining my claims, even as credible scientists and researchers have validated the underlying mechanisms (none of whom the media bothered to contact).
