Eleven NFL players will join six-time Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum recording artist Carrie Underwood for her performance of “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” the opening theme for primetime television’s No. 1 program, Sunday Night Football on NBC.
After making her debut last season, Underwood returns in 2014 beginning with NBC’s first SNF broadcast of the 2014 NFL season as the Denver Broncos host the Indianapolis Colts. Coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET, and the opening theme will continue each week of the season to kick off Sunday Night Football, culminating with a special opening theme for NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015.
Eleven NFL players, who have accounted for 44 Pro Bowl selections, five Super Bowl rings, three Super Bowl MVP trophies and eight first-round draft picks (five in the top 10), will participate in the open (nine, denoted with an asterisk*, took part in a shoot this past June). The complete list of players includes New Orleans Saints TE Jimmy Graham*, San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick*, Carolina Panthers LB Luke Kuechly*, New York Giants QB Eli Manning, Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning, Chicago Bears WR Brandon Marshall*, Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews*, Philadelphia Eagles RB LeSean McCoy*, San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers*, Dallas Cowboys DE DeMarcus Ware* and Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson*
“Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” is set to the original Joan Jett song, “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”
Earlier this summer, NBC Sports Group produced for movie theatres a 2½-minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of this year’s SNF open. The cinema spot was viewed on more than 19,000 movie screens in theaters nationwide. To view the behind-the-scenes cinema spot, click HERE.
