She crushes it every time.
This morning, it was announced that Carrie Underwood would return to sing the Sunday Night Football anthem for the 14th straight year. Unlike last year, which was filmed at The Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas, this season’s open will feature scenes in the recording studio, an intimate, smaller music venue and a concert at a packed stadium, according to People.
Carrie says that this year’s rendition captures the “heart of rock ‘n’ roll,” and says it’s one of her favorite versions yet:
“This year’s show open welcomes Sunday Night Football into my ongoing rock star fever dream. I love this new version of the track and, once again, Tripp and the incredible team behind the camera brought it to life in a whole new way that captures the spirit of this iconic song and the heart of rock ‘n’ roll.
It’s one of my most favorite opens yet!”
It’s well-documented how much Carrie loves rock, so I’m excited to see what they’ve got cooked up this year:
Of course, Faith Hill was the SNF girl for many years, belting out “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” every weekend on TV’s across America, but I’ve loved seeing Carrie step up and carry on the torch over the last decade. If anyone is on Faith’s level in terms of vocal ability, it’s Carrie Underwood.
She gets a decent amount of hate for it, which I really don’t understand, because I think she’s great and honestly I don’t think there’s anyone who could do it better… Faith Hill was incredible, but she can’t do it forever, and I think Carrie has really made it her own and
It’s hard to believe it’s been 13 years since her first year taking over in 2013, but since then, there have been many eras and versions of the song, which they tend to at least tweak a little bit every year to make it fresh and exciting for that given season. Of course, when you’ve been doing it for over a decade, you’re doing something right, and there’s just nothing like hearing this come on TV on Sunday evenings, a glorious reminder that football is, indeed, back.
Now that we’re in August, in fact, my Carolina Panthers play football this week… in the the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow as our legend Luke Kuechly gets inducted. But I don’t care, because it’s something, and it means the official start of the regular season is right around the corner. I can taste it.
And all of that had me thinking back to how long Carrie has been doing this, and I think it deserves a full reflection so I’ve gathered every version she’s done since 2013, and it will certainly make you even more ready for football season to return.
Here’s the early years, through 2021:
Here is her 2022 video:
Personally, I loved seeing her let it rip on the drums in 2023… this one might be my favorite:
In 2024, they leaned into her rock-loving side, and we got to see her play the electric guitar which I also loved:
And the most recent, 2025 rendition:
Waited all day and ALL SUMMER to hear the SNF anthem! 🎤 pic.twitter.com/F7G9PiM7cr
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 8, 2025
The 2026 video will debut on Sunday, September 13th, on NBC and Peacock, which will feature an NFC East matchup between long-time rivals, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. We’re almost there, y’all…
