The best NFL-related music
Ever since I was little, I was both an NFL fan (outside of a couple of failed boycotts) and a musician. And believe it or not, those worlds would collide more than you’d think.
I’d play music from NFL shows and video games on the piano. I remixed NFL theme music in Mario Paint and MIDI sequencers. I even bought the 10-CD album that was the soundtrack to NFL Films the day it came out.
Well, it’s Super Bowl week and I’ve got NFL on the brain, so I figured I’d count down my favorite music that’s related to the NFL. This sources from all over the place - NFL telecast theme songs, music from NFL recap shows, and even NFL video games. Enjoy!
Honorable Mention #1: Tecmo Super Bowl soundtrack
Almost every NFL fan who grew up in the NES era has these songs memorized, perhaps along with “hut hut hut hut hut hut hut” as the lead-in. Ironically, the “Preseason” tracks are probably the best known, since that’s what you’d hear if you had a friend over and played a casual game, but every one of these tracks screams “football!”
Honorable Mention #2: John Madden Football ‘93 intro theme
This isn’t technically an NFL game at all, as it’s missing both the NFL and the NFL Players Association licenses, but it’s the first “NFL” game I ever owned. The theme song always got me amped.
#10: Madden NFL 2001 main theme ("The Mad In Game”)
As far as I can remember, this was the first Madden theme that was an original track recorded by a popular artist from the era. Xzibit did his part for all of us!
#9: International Statement from ESPN’s NFL Primetime
Anyone who watched Chris Berman and Tom Jackson’s highlight recaps on NFL Primetime will recognize this track as the one featured during that week’s marquee matchup. Brett Favre vs. Steve Young. Donovan McNabb vs. Kurt Warner. Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. You can hear it now, can’t you? Great stuff.
#8: Return to Win from NFL Films
This theme has personal relevance, as it was featured prominently in the NFL Films highlight video for the 1997 Denver Broncos that I bought on VHS and watched every single day for a year. That Broncos season ensured that January 25th would always be one of my favorite days of the year.
#7. Madden NFL 97 intro theme
Does this remind you of FOX’s NFL theme? Yeah, me too, and we’re getting to that one in a bit. But this had its own “oomph”, its own identity, and pretty sick visual effects for the era. I enjoyed this cutscene more than the game itself.
#6: The NFL on CBS theme from the 1990s
Man, this is so much better than the CBS theme we’ve had for the past 20 years. When CBS lost the NFC broadcast rights to FOX, I was waiting for years for them to get it back just to hear this theme again. When CBS reclaimed the NFL, this time for the AFC from NBC (holy acronyms, Batman!), I actually teared up the first time I heard it again. It’s an absolute classic.
#5: 75 Seasons Suite from NFL Films
This entire suite is an absolute classic that I’ll always associate with Steve Young and the 1994 49ers. The best part is the upbeat movement that begins at the 5:00 mark. It starts with ominous bells, calling back to another well-known NFL Films classic A New Game, before crafting its own identity with a triumphant climax. NFL football at its best.
#4: Arnold from ESPN’s NFL Primetime
Yeah, I didn’t know this was called Arnold either. I always associated this track with “the bad weather game of the week”. You can just picture pouring rain or a white-out blizzard obscuring your view of the highlights, and you know there’s going to be a lot of Chris Berman “whoooop!!!” and “rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’, fumblin’” as players and the ball itself slip and slide around. Either way, you can visualize it perfectly from this music.
#3: Drive to Glory from NFL Films
This is quite literally the official theme music to any epic game-winning drive. You can hear the collisions, the 4th-down conversions that almost didn’t make it, the relentless progress, the tonal shift to inevitability, and the victory itself.
#2: Touchdown Suite from NFL Films
For quite some time, part of this suite was the official theme warning you that the telecast you were about to watch was legally owned by the NFL and the network that aired it. But despite its association with threatening legalese, it has some of the best work NFL Films has ever done. My favorite part - easily - is the movement that begins at 4:49. I remember first hearing it during the 1999 NFL playoffs, when NFL.com put together a highlight reel of the Wild Card weekend playoff games to this track. The triumphant ending played over a highlight of the Music City Miracle. Well, this music track is a miracle in itself - as a perfect distillation of the beauty and power of NFL football.
#1: The NFL on FOX theme
Yep, I didn’t forget about this one. It may be the most iconic piece of music in American culture for the past 30 years, full stop. The second half is transcendent, as a slowly-ascending bassline accompanies a call-and-response battle between the upper and lower brass. Similar to Drive to Glory, there’s a power, a surge, an inevitability to its energy. And it’s the best piece of NFL music around.