Titans GM says knowing Jay Z lyrics helps him connect with players

Cool GM alert!

First-year Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson, 40, is doing his best to connect with his young players.

That includes knowing the music they probably thought was cool more than half a decade ago.

"I'm an eclectic music guy. I listen to rap. I listen to country. I listen to rock. I listen to everything," Robinson said, according to ESPN's Paul Kuharsky. "I try to stay hip on all of the stuff. So that when I walk by somebody and they had a bad practice, I might say, 'Hey, it's like Jay Z, we're 'On to the Next One.' And that resonates with him. He looks at me like, 'All right, this guy's kind of hip.' I think that's important.

"I think Jay Z's got it down."

The song "On to the Next One" was on Jay Z's "The Blueprint 3," an album released seven years ago. Titans rookie Derrick Henry was 14 years old at the time.

Training camp can be a "Hard Knock Life" (they named the HBO show that, after all), so maybe hearing their GM tell them brush the "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and "Show Me What You Got" is exactly what Titans players need for motivation.

Or maybe Robinson isn't quite as hip as he thinks.