The San Francisco 49ers lost in the NFC Divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. While they were blown out, 41-6, the 49ers' storyline didn't have anything to do with the game, but instead, their injuries.
Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Mykel Williams, and, in the NFC Wild Card round, George Kittle, all suffered season-ending injuries. With all of those injury issues and the problems over the years, the electrical substation by the practice field has come to the forefront of the discussion.
Recently, Kittle, during an appearance on Complex News, shared a story about the electrical substation that's never been heard before. This new angle is a concerning one, and further lends credence to the conspiracy theory that the substation is, at the very least, not a good thing for the 49ers to practice next to.
George Kittle adds fuel to the fire that is 49ers' electrical substation conspiracy
"Now, one thing that messes me up with it, this is tough, my rookie season there used to be trees in between the electrical substation and our practice facility. There’s a fence there, too. And above the fence all the trees had no leaves on them, year-round, all dead," Kittle said.
Coach Yac on Twitter/x shared the snippet of Kittle's story about the substation, and while Kittle downplays the severity of the electrical substation, there is still enough to be concerned about from his comments.
George Kittle on the electrical substation next to the 49ers facility:
“The one thing that messes me up with it, this is tough, my rookie season there used to be trees in between the substation and our practice facility. There’s a fence there too and above the fence all the… pic.twitter.com/EJQPqwf4YG
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) February 11, 2026
Regardless of whether there is any truth to the conspiracy theory or not, seeing dead leaves in one specific spot, while other parts of the tree are fine, cannot be anything but a red flag.
Now, the impact on the 49ers players might not be nearly to that same degree, especially with the distance comparison between the players and the substation compared to the tree and the substation.
"Nobody notices it until you point it out," Kittle said. "I didn’t point it out to Kyle Shanahan until 2021. A vet pointed it out to me my rookie season, and I was like 'That’s kind of weird'."
If nothing else, this situation is weird. Seeing leaves that are dead in one spot on a tree, knowing the conspiracies about the impact of the substation, makes it very hard to ignore.
A photo of the leaves looking dead above the tree amid this fervent conspiracy theory would only bolster the fears that the substation is actually causing harm to the players. So, why wasn't there a photo of the tree? Or at least some reference to it recently?
Kittle explained, "But then this year the NFL came in and cut them all down. So they’re not there anymore so no one can see them. So it’s only us vets that know that was the truth. I don’t think anyone talked about that yet. That one messed me up.”
The NFL cutting down this tree will, just as the dead leaves in the tree do, add fuel to the fire that is this conspiracy theory.
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Kittle made the point that he wants the NFL to, at the very least, look into the substation and confirm if there is any negative side effect or not.
Even if it's minimal or if there's no effect at all, knowing once and for all will finally put these conspiracies to rest.
But, until then, there will be paranoia about the substation, and stories like the one Kittle shared will only continue to come out and further make things complicated.
The electrical substation will be a storyline throughout the offseason, heading into next year, and the first time a 49ers player gets hurt.
It won't go away until the 49ers and the NFL address it. It's not just the fans. Players, like Kittle, are taking notice of it.
They might not believe it's causing significant harm, as some conspiracy theorists believe, but if there's any belief it has an impact, it cannot be ignored.
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