Carrie Underwood (Photo via SNFonNBC/Twitter)
Every NFL fan gets a warm feeling in their body whenever they hear the words “waiting all day for Sunday Night” ahead of NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast, and Carrie Underwood delivers every time.
Sunday Night Football returned to our screens with Carrie Underwood performing the show open for the 2024 NFL season.
Since accepting the job in 2013, Carrie has been the face of Sunday Night Football for 12 years.
You simply cannot watch a game on Sunday Night Football until you hear her voice.
Prior to kickoff, the dynamic songstress officially started the season with her “Sunday Night Football” song, but this season, it has a new twist.
🎵 WEEK ONE @carrieunderwood HITS DIFFERENT! 🎵 #LARvsDET | 📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/2KwpE38boI
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 9, 2024
Fans loved it:
Carrie Underwood Singing Before ‘Sunday Night Football’ Almst Didn’t Happen
Carrie Underwood has been the face of Sunday Night Football since 2013 as her version of “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” has joined the ranks of fans wanting to hear the iconic theme before taking in the final game of a long day.
The American Idol season 4 champion kicked off her 12th straight season of welcoming NFL enthusiasts back to the gridiron when the Lions took on the Rams at Ford Field.
It’s crazy to think having Underwood sing almost never happened.
Sunday Night Football has been a thing since 2006.
Around that time, Carrie Underwood was just a year removed from her American Idol victory.
Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of NBC’s NFL coverage, reached out to Underwood about taking the job but she “wasn’t really interested,” he told Yahoo Sports.
“At that time in my life, there was so much going on,” said the multi GRAMMY-winning artist. “It wasn’t the right time.”
The job would go to Pink, and then Faith Hill the following year.
Hill opened the program for six years before she bowed out.
“She said, ‘I think it’d be better if you kind of change horses,” Gaudelli said.
Gaudelli then reached out to Carrie Underwood again.
“I said, ‘Look, we’re the No. 1 show in primetime television. This is going to air in front of 20 million people plus every single week,” Gaudelli said.
He continued, “I showed her the demographic breakdown, and once that was done, she’s like, ‘You know what? You’re right. We should do this.’ And that began a now 12-year run.”
