Which NFL players are the best (and worst) locker-room DJs? What music do they play?

Darnell Mooney walked over to the iPad in the Atlanta Falcons locker room on a Friday afternoon last month. Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” was playing, a rare country music song blaring over the team’s sound system.

Mooney, a wide receiver, didn’t hit shuffle or change the Spotify app to another playlist. He turned the volume up. Cody Johnson’s “Diamond in My Pocket” followed at the same decibel level.

Rap and hip-hop — with the occasional mix of rhythm and blues — are the most played genres in the Falcons locker room. Country is more common than rock and roll or pop, but still unusual.

Mooney doesn’t discriminate when it comes to tunes. His versatility and ability to recognize the emotions of the locker room have earned him the unofficial title of the Falcons’ best DJ, according to teammates.

“Honestly, I just go with whatever the energy is in the room,” Mooney said. “It could be Miley Cyrus. It could jump all over the place.”

There is a Mooney or several Mooneys on every NFL team, a player or players who attempt to motivate through song or help relax the room after a long, grueling week of practice.

NFL locker rooms are diverse dwellings, as are the musical selections in each facility. It’s up to the designated DJ to gauge how his team is feeling at that moment and then either ride that wave or change things up. ESPN contacted players from 14 teams, and some have a DJ by committee; others have one by default. Some players take great pride in their skills with the proverbial aux cord. Others are fed up with the noise their teammates are generating, but they learn to accept it.

And it’s not just teammates who pick the tunes. New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn submits a playlist for “Throwback Thursdays,” which is played during outdoor practices.

“It’s old-school stuff,” linebacker Quincy Williams said. “He’s got some good tunes, but it’s for ‘Throwback Thursday,’ for sure.”

Inside the Jets facility, the bar is set high. It’s not just about playing songs. Running back Breece Hall doesn’t pick bad music; it’s just not a sophisticated mix, according to receiver Allen Lazard.

“The songs that he plays, they’re layups as far as what you could choose,” Lazard said. “They’re usually all throwback bangers, so it’s like you’re not diversifying your catalogue or showing me that you’re up to date with new and good music.

“You’re just relying on old classics, from Usher to Mary J. Blige to Lil Wayne. Everything is pre-2010.”

There’s a responsibility involved in being the DJ, although for some, it’s just about creating a fun atmosphere.

“DJing is fun as f—,” Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said. “It’s super fun, ’cause you get to control the vibe. I call it the vibe creator. I’m the vibe creator. VC.”

Sometimes the moment calls for trap music, a form of hip-hop, while other times it’s old-school soul. Younger players, according to many veterans, prefer the aggressive cadence of NBA YoungBoy (YoungBoy Never Broke Again). Guys in their 30s might desire something more melodic like Drake. There are geographical considerations, as well. Players from the South could prefer Atlanta or Louisiana hip-hop. West Coast rap is big with the California natives. Folks from Florida love some Rod Wave.

“And Josh [Allen] grew up on a farm, so I got to make sure I play Good Charlotte, blink-182, Panic! At The Disco and GloRilla,” Dawkins said.

Generational divide

Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Jared Verse, the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year, is not a fan of some of the music he hears when he enters the locker room in the morning.

Verse said cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. or wide receiver Davante Adams controls the tunes because the Bluetooth speaker sits between their lockers. And Verse said the music at that hour is “trash.”

“I’m not trying to murder somebody at six in the morning,” Verse said with a laugh. “Put on some Adele or something like that. Let’s relax.

“I’m not trying to listen to some YoungBoy at 8:30 in the morning after I was just on the phone with my mom. I’m not, it’s too much.”

“I’m not trying to listen to some YoungBoy at 8:30 in the morning after I was just on the phone with my mom. I’m not, it’s too much.”

Jared Verse

Forbes said he plays “a very Southern type of music” and teammates complain that he plays the same stuff over and over. It’s not quite every day, though.

Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, who is of Samoan and Hawaiian descent, balances out hardcore rap with what he calls “Aloha Friday.” Nacua said he will sometimes sneak in some electronic dance music (EDM) from Chris Lake or Fisher on Thursdays when practices are more intense. When things are more relaxed on Fridays, with the practice week done, Nacua said he’ll “throw on some” reggae or R&B singer J Boog.

YoungBoy seems to be the most-played artist in NFL locker rooms. With the Washington Commanders, who are the NFL’s oldest team with an average age of 28.9 years (Pittsburgh Steelers are next at 28.0), YoungBoy presents a bit of a generational litmus test.

Sheldon Day, a 31-year-old Commanders defensive tackle, would prefer more variety from his 23-year-old teammates, cornerback Trey Amos and defensive tackle Johnny Newton.

“The worst DJ has to be one of the rookies or second-year players,” Day said. “All they listen to is NBA YoungBoy. That’s the only person they know, and Kodak [Black].

“I don’t understand it; they have no reach. They could listen to NBA YoungBoy all day.”

Jacksonville Jaguars safety Eric Murray has the same complaint about one of his team’s default DJs, cornerback Jarrian Jones.

“He only plays one artist — NBA YoungBoy — and that’s all he plays the whole time,” Murray said.

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said he’d prefer something in the middle rather than the screaming death metal offensive lineman Kaleb McGary prefers or the trap music other teammates enjoy. Cousins said he’d like to hear some One Republic.

Falcons All-Pro guard Chris Lindstrom said Mooney is the team’s best DJ, but only for a lack of other options. Lindstrom and punter Bradley Pinion said they miss the DJ stylings of former Atlanta returner Cordarrelle Patterson, who mixed country, hip-hop, rock and pop — and played gospel music on Sundays before games.

Not mixing up the beats seems to be a sticking point among players. Chargers defensive tackle Naquan Jones said fellow lineman Teair Tart is the team’s designated DJ only because the speaker is in his locker. Jones isn’t down with Tart constantly playing Philadelphia rap artists like Toure.

“When he starts getting on that little Philly thing and starts playing on the Philly rap, that’s not it,” Jones said. “… If he put [the speaker] in a neutral ground, he probably won’t get the aux as much. When they want vibes, and on game day, they come to me. They ask me to connect to the aux.”

The music conflicts among NFL teams can extend to the weight room, where preferences can split along position groups. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts will sometimes troll offensive lineman Kyle Hinton when he’s squatting by putting on smooth jazz. Pitts referred to Hinton as the worst DJ on the Falcons.

For the Detroit Lions, the weight-room music ends up being whatever position group gets in there first.

“So, if the O-line does their warmup first, they hurry in there and get to the iPad. Then it’s like an O-line day and they’re gonna listen to [heavy rock music or EDM] and then we’re gonna complain like, ‘What is all this screaming?'” Lions running back Craig Reynolds said. “But then they’re like, ‘This mumble rap, we don’t know what they are saying. Explain the lyrics.'”

The key to quality DJing

Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker is the de facto locker-room DJ, a role he has held since he was drafted in 2022. It’s a position he takes seriously and takes pride in. Brisker connects his phone to the large JBL Bluetooth speaker behind the basketball hoop in the Bears’ locker room at Halas Hall to share his beats.

In addition, Brisker is in charge of the weight room playlist and the music played before and after games. Brisker’s top three artists: Lil’ Durk, YoungBoy and Future.

“I play everything for the locker room,” Brisker said. “I’ve got a mixture of everything for my Florida guys, my Cali guys. Everybody gets a mix, and then obviously we mess with two or three artists that they really love.

“If somebody has a request, I’ll play it, but if not, I’ll just play whatever I get turnt up to.”

The common denominator for a good locker room DJ, according to players, is versatility. Like a skill player who is willing to block and play special teams, the man on the aux has to showcase a variety in his jams.

Cincinnati Bengals players are satisfied with the DJ stylings of defensive end Joseph Ossai, who said the team is “not a dictatorship” when it comes to music. Rap, rock and country are all played frequently. Rookie linebacker Barrett Carter played 2010 country during a recent media open locker room period, including Billy Currington’s “Good Directions,” a track that stuck with him during his college days at Clemson.

“You’re going to hear everything here,” Bengals defensive end Cam Sample said. “You might even hear my mixtape.”

Cornerback Chase Lucas and offensive lineman Spencer Burford are the two regular DJs for the San Francisco 49ers, though the team has a more egalitarian approach — essentially first come, first serve. Lucas said Nipsey Hussle, Gunna and YoungBoy are his go-to artists, though, like the other respected NFL player DJs, he has a sizable range.

“I don’t know what everybody else’s vibe is, but my vibe is whatever I’m feeling,” Lucas said. “It could be Fleetwood Mac; it could be anybody. I like a wide variety of artists.”

The key is all about timing. Some players say upbeat, harder tunes are better before practice and more mellow beats are preferable after a hard day’s work. While variety is good, the feeling in the air has to be right.

Very few people have anything bad to say about Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. But Pitts and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. are not fans of his musical selections.

“His house music is good, but I mean we will be listening to Rick Ross and Future and then he’ll put on NWA,” Pitts said. “How you switch the vibe that quick? … It’s just you got to keep the vibe going. You can’t be high and then slow it down.”

Robinson said all Penix listens to is rap and trap. “He wakes up, and he listen to Kodak Black in the car on the way here,” Robinson said. When asked about the most obscure artist he has played in the locker room, Robinson said Tame Impala, a psychedelic project from Australian musician Kevin Parker.

“And most of them were vibing to it,” Robinson said. “Then you have [Penix] walking in like, ‘Turn this off, bruh.'”

Mooney is the one most trusted with the Falcons as far as locker room music goes. He said he has his own playlist that he sometimes puts on and just hits shuffle. The secret? Mooney said he mainly just plays what he’s feeling in that moment and his teammates catch the same vibe.

“I think my energy is attractive, so whatever my energy has is going on, whether it’s bad or good, others are going to feed off it,” Mooney said. “So, I think they just catch the energy that I’m in and want to be in the energy.”

Contributing: Ben Baby, Sarah Barshop, Rich Cimini, Courtney Cronin, Rob Demovsky, Mike DiRocco, Alaina Getzenberg, John Keim, Kris Rhim, Katherine Terrell, Nick Wagoner, Josh Weinfuss, Eric Woodyard