Buried in a feature from Vic Tafur of The Athletic regarding 49ers CEO Al Guido is a comment that could eliminate the lingering electrical substation issue once and for all.
Here’s the key sentence: “Additionally, they are exploring a possible nearby relocation as they are running out of space at and next to Levi’s Stadium.”
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No mention is made in the article of the theory that originated with players and that officially has been debunked. Whether the players regard the connection between close proximity of an electrical substation to their practice facility and soft-tissue injuries as bunk is a different issue entirely.
The best way to take the issue off the table is to move the practice facility away from the substation. The 49ers have been there since 1988, with the nearby stadium opening in 2014.
For now, they’re simply “exploring” the move. Once the players catch wind of that, they could be exhorting the team to do something more than explore.
In an age where opinion trumps fact, it doesn’t matter whether scientific research concludes that the substation has no impact on player health and safety. If the players think it does, it will be impossible to get them to think otherwise.
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And so the best way out of the electromagnetic mess is to move away from the substation for reasons other than the proximity to the substation. Then, none of the players will ever think that the substation is potentially contributing to the inevitable injuries they suffer.
