Carrie Underwood Rocks the 2026 ‘Sunday Night Football’ Season Opener

Carrie Underwood brought a heavier rock edge to “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” for the 14th season of the NFL on NBC.

Now in her 14th season performing the anthem, Underwood launched the new NFL season on NBC on Sunday night with a fresh rendition of the Sunday Night Football theme song.

This year’s arrangement leans into the song’s rock influences. The anthem is built around Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ 1988 hit “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” a fitting foundation for Underwood, who has covered Motörhead and Skid Row in concert, opened for Guns N’ Roses, performed with Axl Rose and recently put her spin on songs by Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Papa Roach at Iowa’s Velocity Fest.

Underwood performs in a small club, a vast stadium and a recording studio in the 2026 opening video. Sunday Night Football creative director Tripp Dixon said the concept was inspired by the singer’s “deep, well-documented love of rock music.” Underwood described the result as an invitation into her “ongoing rock star fever dream.”

The season opener featured NFC East rivals Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, the first teams highlighted in Underwood’s weekly changing lyrics. Both franchises appeared in Rolling Stone’s 2026 NFL Preview, in which artists ranging from Michael Bublé to Melissa Etheridge looked ahead to their favorite teams’ seasons.

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