NFL just misses on these bootsFor years...

NFL just misses on these boots

For years ABC had Hank Williams Jr. introducing “Monday Night Football” with “Are you ready for some football?” And now NBC will have Faith Hill performing the opening theme for “Sunday Night Football.”

A few weeks ago at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater, she recorded “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” plus a special version, “Waiting All Year for Opening Night,” which will air before Thursday’s season opener between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints.

Hill, speaking from her home in Nashville, told Morning Briefing she enjoyed the recording session -- with one exception.

“The boots they had me wearing could qualify for the Uncomfortable Boots Hall of Fame,” she said. “But I gutted it up and made it through. As they say, no pain, no gain.”

Nancy Sinatra in 1966 sang, “These Boots Were Made for Walking.” Hill found out some boots are made just for show.

Trivia time

Who performed the opening theme for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” last season?

It’s their love

Hill said she and her husband, Tim McGraw, are often either attending Tennessee Titans games in Nashville or watching football at their home there or at their home in Beverly Hills when not on tour.

“I’ve learned there are a few rules,” Hill said. “One is, dinner has to be ready before football starts. The other is, no questions until after the replay is done.”

An athlete, too

Hill, besides being a five-time Grammy Award-winning artist, was an all-around athlete at McLaurin High in Star, Miss.

She said it was a very small school -- 47 in her graduating class -- so she and most of her classmates played a variety of sports. Hill, who is 5 feet 9, was a middle-distance runner on the track team.

Said Hill: “I had the longest legs, but that didn’t make me the fastest runner.”

Max’d out of AFL?

Dave Baker, the commissioner of the Arena Football League and father of USC All-American left tackle Sam Baker, attended the Trojans’ game against Idaho on Saturday night.

Asked whether Michael Vick might someday be allowed to play in his league, Baker indicated it is doubtful.

Referring to his Yorkshire Terrier named Max, Baker said: “We’re known as a league of second chances, but some days it seems Max is my only friend, and I wouldn’t want to risk losing my best friend.”

New Madden game

The NBC announcing team of Al Michaels and John Madden will be in Indianapolis on Thursday night for the Colts-Saints game. On Sunday night, they’ll be in Dallas for a game between the Cowboys and New York Giants.

NBCSports.com is sponsoring a contest that offers as a prize a trip to a future NBC game. The contest’s big question: How long will it take the Madden Cruiser to get from Indianapolis to Dallas?

Corn grows here

In an edition of “In My Own Words” featuring Karl Dorrell that aired after Saturday’s UCLA-Stanford game on FSN Prime Ticket, interviewer Michael Eaves asked the UCLA coach if he’d heard this one: “Do you know why 8:47 is a Bruins fan’s favorite time of day?”

Dorrell, a bit puzzled, said, “8:47?”

Eaves: “It’s 13 to 9. It’s corny, right?”

Dorrell: “Yeah.”

In case you forgot, UCLA last season beat USC, 13-9.

Trivia answer

Pink, whose real name is Alecia Beth Moore.

And finally

NBC’s Jay Leno, noting that a Georgia judge has ordered Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry to pay child support to nine women for nine children in four states, said, “You know something, this guy may never win a Super Bowl, but he has a great shot at the Breeders’ Cup.”

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larry.stewart@latimes.com