Carrie Underwood Initially Rejected The Sunday Night Football Theme: “Wasn’t The Right Time”

Been waiting all YEAR for a Sunday night! There isn't anything quite like the first NFL Sunday of the year, and NFL fans have already been treated to a stellar start of the season. The Raven and Chiefs kicked off the season with a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game, and it more than lived up to the hype. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens marched down the field and a mere toe-out-of-bounds kept them from tying the game as time expired. And then the Eagles and Packers faced off in Brazil for another barnburner (on a slip 'n slide field) that saw the Eagles get the best of Jordan Love and the Packers. Of course, we got a whole slate of great NFL action before we get to the Sunday Night Football game, where country music's own Carrie Underwood will make her return to the program for her 12th straight year of singing the theme song. Her new performance of "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" will debut on today ahead of the Rams-Lions playoff rematch. But as it turns out, Carrie wasn't initially interested in the gig that she's now had for over a decade.

Carrie Underwood Wasn't Interested

According to a new conversation with Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of NBC's NFL coverage, Carrie initially passed on the gig when NBC first approached her. "I've always been a huge Joan Jett fan. I don't know if it was the first song I went to, but I started listening and came up with the line, 'Waiting all day for Sunday Night.' We reached out to Carrie, she wasn't really interested." Carrie was fresh of her American Idol win and trying to establish herself as a country music singer... she just didn't have the time. "At that time in my life there was so much going on. It wasn't the right time." The first iteration of the theme music in 2006 featured pop singer Pink. And then, another country music powerhouse, Faith Hill, took the reins for the next 6 years. Following her 6 year run, Gaudelli says Faith thought it was time to give someone else a shot. "Then she felt that she had taken it as far as she could take it. She said, 'I think it'd be better if you kind of change horses.'" So they asked Carrie 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.’ Carrie's a football fan, I think it's kind of a natural. 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." And the rest is history. This year, Carrie says the new opening is going to be "electric." https://twitter.com/tmj4/status/1832115801039478844 Carrie and Sunday Night Football returns tonight at 7:2o CT on NBC: https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1832780941842088274