Carrie Underwood was noticeably MIA from her duties as the face of NBC’s football coverage this Thanksgiving — and fans most definitely noticed. Despite Carrie performing the opening number for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the Super Bowl and other special occasion games for the past six years, the star was nowhere to be seen as the Atlanta Falcons took on the New Orleans Saints on November 28.
Instead of seeing Carrie belt out a special version of the theme “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” or even perform a new song for the special event, the mom of two was replaced by another country act.
As reported by ET Canada this week, fans who tuned in to the big game on Turkey Day instead saw Zac Brown Band open the broadcast with a reworked version of one of their biggest songs.
The country band prepared a special rendition of their 2008 hit, “Chicken Fried,” for the holiday broadcast. Instead of the original lyrics to the country song, the group changed some of the words to make them a little more Thanksgiving-friendly, which including singing the words “turkey fried” instead.
In the pre-recorded video that played before the game, the band could all be seen as they sat around a large Thanksgiving table for a feast and continued to play their instruments.
?”You know I like my turkey fried…” ?
Enjoy a very special Thanksgiving welcome to #NOvsATL from @zacbrownband ! pic.twitter.com/uQm7FEoZ7y
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) November 29, 2019
The clip opened by showing the group as they received a text from Carrie asking them to take her place for the holiday.
While some football fans were a fan of the fun opening number, it’s safe to say that many were left disappointed that Carrie wasn’t front and center for the Thanksgiving Day special.
Several viewers took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the change.
“No @carrieunderwood to kickoff Football tonight???? Unacceptable. UN. AC. CEPT. ABLE!!! UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!” one fan tweeted.
“Carrie Underwood took the day off so we get some…country dude…singing the NFL Football Theme tonight,” another person wrote on the social media site. “…I miss Carrie. #NOvsATL.”
A third fan showed their disappointment and wrote, “Not only did the Cowboys lose, but we have to listen to Zack Brown band instead of Carrie Underwood. What a suck a** thanksgiving #snfonnbc.”
Many others weren’t afraid to make it known they missed seeing the mom of two, who’s currently opening Sunday Night Football with Joan Jett.
No Carrie Underwood before the NBC game. pic.twitter.com/iHKSJo1xqB
— Zach Harper (@zachharper31) November 29, 2019
No disrespect @zacbrownband but we want @carrieunderwood
— it’s damp. (@Pisces_ofMe) November 29, 2019
Where’s my Carrie underwood Sunday night football song >:(
— TN (@necrogamesage) November 29, 2019
NBC didn’t confirm exactly what inspired the shake up, though ET Canada reported that the network had previously announced that the “Something In The Water” singer “has the holiday off.”
Though it’s not clear exactly what the star was up to that kept her from pre-recording a video for the holiday, as The Inquisitr reported earlier this week, Carrie did recently open up about her family’s Thanksgiving traditions.
She also shared why she gets to enjoy two Thanksgivings a year thanks to her husband, retired hockey star Mike Fisher .
