It's game day. The TV is on. Maybe you’re wearing your favorite team’s jersey... or maybe even some sporting some team-inspired face paint. Snacks and refreshments are ready and within reach. You’re ready to lock into hours of glorious football.
But there’s one thing missing.
Music plays an unheralded — but vital — role in the ritual of the NFL. The iconic fanfares, anthems, and themes set the tone for excitement, helping prime viewers and fans for epic games.
Take the viral TikTok trend from a few years ago: people would blast Johnny Pearson's "Monday Night Football" fanfare, only for the football enthusiast in their life to come sprinting into the room like a wide receiver running the perfect route.
Regardless of if you like football or not, or which team (or theme) is your favorite, we can all agree that music makes up a big part of game day.
So let’s explore the stories we don’t know behind the music that almost all sports fans do know.
ABC and ESPN: “Heavy Action” by Johnny Pearson
Johnny Pearson was a British bandleader and composer who was especially noteworthy for writing stock music. His music has been used in the US in cartoons like SpongeBob SquarePants and Spider-Man.
But Pearson’s 1970 composition “Heavy Action” is probably his most recognizable, at least to sports enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was first used in the UK for the BBC production of Superstars, a long-running competition show that — like its US counterpart of the same name — pit decorated athletes against each other in different competitions.
In the US, the theme was added to Monday Night Football broadcasts in 1975 and has come to be a staple — in its original form as well as through different arrangements and remixes — in the many years since.
Fox: "NFL on Fox Theme" by Scott Schreer
This epic, brooding theme has one famed caped crusader to thank. According to a 2014 article on Deadspin, then-Fox Sports president David Hill was in line for a Batman ride at a theme park when he pitched a new employee for a theme song: “Batman plays football.”
The assignment landed in the lap of composer Scott Schreer, who was given “like two days” to write the song. After coming up with a concept, Schreer cobbled together a 48-person orchestra on spec to play the demo. The network executives loved the work, and the rest is history.
CBS: “Posthumus Zone” by E.S. Posthumus
Electronic group E.S. Posthumus created this instantly recognizable theme, which became part of CBS’s NFL coverage in 2003.
The song bursts forth with percussive drive before settling into a determined groove that combines orchestral and rock elements. This melding is in keeping with the group’s core philosophy — to represent the past in a way that integrates the present. Fitting for a sport that many view as the modern descendant of gladiator games.
NBC: “Wide Receiver” by John Williams
John Williams is rightfully acknowledged as one of history’s greatest film composers. But you may not realize how great his legacy is in athletics as well! In 1984, he created the “Olympic Fanfare and Theme,” which is used in coverage of the games to this day.
Another foray into sports music came in 2006, when he wrote “Wide Receiver.” The determined, almost inevitable anthem is used in NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage. In it, he harnesses a sense of power and menace with a rhythmic drive that evokes his music "Imperial March" from Star Wars.
NFL Network: “Run to the Playoffs” by David Robidoux
Prolific American composer David Robidoux’s name can often be found in the credits for all things NFL, frequently creating original music for NFL Films. The Emmy winner’s 2009 track opens with handbells before erupting into a powerful, full-orchestra jog.
Having written hundreds of scores, this often-heard piece is one track of many in his broad catalogue to create dramatic tension and pay homage to a beloved athletic — and musical — tradition.
Amazon: “Prime Video Sports Theme” by Pinar Toprak
The newest entry in the list is composed by Turkish-American composer Pinar Toprak. Debuting in 2022 with the first Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football broadcasts, Toprak’s pulsating theme was designed to be “memorable and hummable.”
With this 70-piece orchestral anthem, the Captain Marvel composer became the first woman to write a theme for national NFL broadcasts.