"Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie landed an exclusive interview with President Barack Obama for NBC's pre-game coverage of the Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1.

It has become a tradition for Obama to grant an interview to the network broadcasting the NFL's biggest game each year, Los Angeles Times reports. CBS News' Scott Pelley, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and "Today" show co-host Matt Lauer are among the journalists to have interviewed the president before the game. The choice of Guthrie to interview the president and the announcement of a three-year contract extension point to an evolving relationship with NBC News.

Guthrie joined the "Today" show as a co-host during the drama-filled exit of Ann Curry in June 2012. Curry had been ousted from her anchor position because the program frequently finished second in the ratings behind ABC News' "Good Morning America."

"It required a delicate touch," Guthrie told the Los Angeles Times. "My own approach was not to go in there with guns blazing, saying, 'Pay attention to me.' It called for someone to come in, put their head down and do the work. I tried to be a credit to the show and not another problem."

Guthrie will interview Obama live from the White House before the Super Bowl. An additional taped interview with the president will air Feb. 2 on the "Today" show.

Guthrie, a lawyer, joined NBC news as a legal analyst and White House correspondent in September 2007. She served as White House correspondent between 2008 and 2011. She was the co-anchor of the MSNBC program "The Daily Rundown" in 2010 and 2011. Before she was named as co-anchor of "Today," Guthrie had been a co-host of the "Today" show's third hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker before debuting as co-anchor alongside Matt Lauer, Morales and Roker, on July 9, 2012.

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