NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Over the weekend, the Titans' team hotel -- not far from team headquarters -- housed not just an NFL football team but also participants in AkaiCon, an anime convention.

Football players and people dressed up as characters from animated movies and TV shows made for a curious mix.

I put a picture on Instagram of what I think was a cat crossing the street on my drive past the hotel on Friday evening.

"There were definitely some interesting elevator rides," receiver Nate Washington said.

Guard Andy Levitre said anime is not his thing and that he encountered a rabbit and some people with pink hair and pink wigs. He just stayed in his room and kept to himself, not interacting much.

Across the locker room aisle, Chance Warmack surprised me with this:

"Believe it or not, I love anime. I watch that. To all my anime lovers out there, Chance Warmack watches that. It was funny, because a lot of my teammates were making fun of them and I was like, ‘Aw man, I know who that is!’ They dress up as different cartoon characters so I was naming them and everything. I actually had a chance to talk to a few people. I wouldn’t look like a person who’d watch stuff like that. They were like ‘Oh my God, you watch that stuff?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’

"There were some people dressed up as Naruto, that’s a show. Some Dragon Ball Z characters, that’s throwback, a show I used to watch when I was younger. …They’re just different. You can’t label them as crazy, you’ve got to understand who they are. Before you judge somebody, put yourself in their shoes."

Washington said he thought adults tapping into their childhood was cool.

"Oh my goodness," he said of the overall picture. "That was organized craziness."