Panthers’ Musical Diversity Showcased at Friday’s Practice

After Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton finally convinced coaches a couple years ago to allow music during the stretching part of practice, this is the type of tune commonly played:

Five days before Newton danced to "Jumpman" at the start of Friday morning's practice, he snapped a picture with Future ahead of the NFC Championship Game. But Newton's not the only Panther who hangs with musicians.

Tight end Greg Olsen has gotten to know the band Kings of Leon over the past few years, and this offseason, he started introducing his teammates to their tunes.

"When we worked out here, we always listened to Kings during our training sessions. We brought the portable speaker out to the field for our field work," Olsen said.

"We had the routine before we walked in the gates, before every workout, back to February of last year."

But to get his music played in the locker room, on a playlist heavy with hip-hop, Olsen had to go through the team's DJ.

"I like that it increases our ability to be wide-ranged in everything we do," fullback Mike Tolbert said.

So it's ... cultural.

"Exactly," Tolbert said with a laugh. "Greg loves it, so we love it."

Added Olsen, "More and more guys around the team, they're heard it, they've liked it. It's kind of become a bit of an inside thing here. That's our Friday routine at practice - everybody knows they're going to get a Kings song."

So, without further adieu, here's Kings of Leon's "Fans," ft. Greg Olsen and Derek Anderson at the start of the Panthers' final Friday practice in Charlotte: