Carrie Underwood is back for a second football season, as NBC’s Sunday Night Football kicks off this Sunday with Carrie returning as the voice behind primetime television’s number-one program, singing the theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.” And as football-fan Carrie tells us, doing the opening theme is all the more fun for her because it allows her to feel like she’s part of the game. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Eleven distinguished and accomplished NFL players join Carrie in this year’s opener, including New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall, Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware, and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
• Be sure to tune-in for Carrie for the first Sunday Night Football broadcast of the 2014 NFL season as the Denver Broncos host the Indianapolis Colts. Coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7pm, ET, this Sunday, September 7th, on NBC.
• This summer, NBC Sports Group released a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this year’s opening, which aired in theatres on more than 19,000 movies screens nationwide. If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out and get fired up for Sunday, right here!
• In addition to the theme song airing each week of Sunday Night Football this season, Carrie has also recorded a special opening theme for NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl 49 (XLIX) on February 1st.
• Did You Know…? “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” is set to the original Joan Jett song, “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”

  Carrie Underwood loves being a part of Sunday Night Football. (1:11)
“I was so excited a year ago when I got the call from Sunday Night Football to be the opener, to get to sing ‘Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.’ I got to go into the studio and kind of put my own spin on the song, and shooting the opener was so much fun. And I was so excited, of course, when they asked me to come back for a second year and do it this year. I love the care and the effort and the excitement that everybody has about the opening. They really put a lot of love into it, so I definitely try to do the same — everything from wardrobe and hair and make-up to tryin’ to work my way around the stage and interact with the audience, and I just love the way it turns out, and I love so much that I feel like I’m a part of this game, of America’s game, of football. I’ve watched football my entire life and been a fan, and I love country music, I love football; it was, I guess, only a matter of time (laughs) before I got to do everything, all that, all at once! So I definitely hope that’s something that I get to do for many years, many years to come, ’cause it’s just so much fun, and I love seein’ it every Sunday night.”