Carrie Underwood ‘Sunday Night Football’ Evolution After 14 Years

This year marks 14 seasons that Carrie Underwood has welcomed America in to Sunday Night Football on NBC and man, what a difference nearly a decade and a half makes.

Carrie Underwood Make Her Sunday Night Football Debut

Underwood first took the gig in 2013, inheriting it from her fellow country singer Faith Hill. The country veteran held down the fort for six season singing the event’s anthem from 2007-2012. Prior to that it was Pink who launched the concept in 2006.

In her first season, Underwood kept things nice and simple, using the football-related parody of Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” Although she was already a household name after winning American Idol in 2005 and she already had a few tours under her belt, this was still one of the largest audiences she would be in front of week after week.

Plus, the fact that she was taking over for Faith Hill, certainly added to the pressure.

The vocals are undeniably Underwood and her cute, little stomp walk onto the stage is textbook when it comes to her early days of performing. She sticks to the basics and delivers the song without a flaw.

Carrie Underwood Experiments with the Sunday Night Football Open

While the majority of these opens over the past 20 years have had us “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” Underwood has tried a few other variations of a pump-up jam.

In 2016 she introduced a parody of her own song “Somethin’ Bad” and called it “Oh Sunday Night.” That lasted for two seasons. Next, she sang an original that she co-wrote called “Game On,” which aired in 2018.

The following season she returned with Jett joining her for a special celebration of the NFL’s 100th season.

However, tradition eventually won out and Underwood returned to the original song and has stuck to it ever since. She’s always found a way to make it distinctly “Carrie.” Like in 2023, she took things to a whole new level showing off her drumming skills with a solo.

Carrie Underwood Totally Rocks in Her 2026 Sunday Night Football Open

Now in her 14th season, the country singer is still setting the tone for the weekend’s primetime matchup. This year, she went extra rock ‘n’ roll with an all leather look and thigh-high boots.