The NFL's most iconic theme music has roots in everything from Batman to 'Star Wars'

By AJ Willingham, CNN

Updated 1005 GMT (1805 HKT) September 11, 2022

(CNN)If you're a football fan, the first few blasts of an NFL broadcast theme can make you feel like running through a brick wall. It's superheroes! It's action! It's the entire percussion session wailing away for dear life! As the season descends upon us, enjoy a breakdown of the most iconic football themes you'll be hearing all autumn long. There are so many fascinating parallels and big names involved, you'll be the menace of every commercial break conversation.

NFL on Fox(Link to «NFL on Fox»)Composed by Scott Schreer, 1994 The daddy of all iconic NFL intros is absolutely dripping in lore. First off all, it was composed by Scott Schreer, one of the most legendary jingle writers who is also responsible for the music behind some NHL and NASCAR programming. Read MoreThis jingle (although it really deserves a more muscular name. Jongle?) has it all: heavy brass, heavy percussion, and an opening fit for running into war. If it reminds you of a superhero tune, that's by design. In 1994, then-Fox Sports president David Hill wanted a new NFL theme, and got an earworm while waiting for a Batman ride at a California theme park. When the network tapped Schreer, he was told the vibe was «Batman on steroids.» According to a Deadspin article on the tune's conception, Schreer turned to the cinematic sounds associated with gritty action movies to lend his new theme some gravitas and «put a real dark, manly, masculine football tint to it.»NBC Sunday Night Football («Wide Receiver»)(Link to «Wide Receiver»)Composed by John Williams, 2006Yes, THE John Williams. Who else could it be? The heavy drumbeats, the lusty trombone, it's basically «Star Wars» for football fans.