Curtis Plummer (ICE CUBE) has seen better days. The former three-time MVP of his high school football team, his glory days are long behind him due to a knee injury that nipped his future career in the bud. Now unemployed due to the local factory shutting down in his hometown of Minden, Illinois, Curtis spends most of his time drinking beer from brown paper bags while avoiding going to church where Reverent Pratt (GARRETT MORRIS) tries to encourage the down-on-their-luck residents to be happy with what they have. Instead, Curtis can usually be found watching Coach Fisher (MATT CRAVEN) and his assistant, Cyrus (DASH MIHOK), try to make something happen with their hapless Pop Warner Football League team, the Minden Browns.
Things aren't much easier for Curtis' niece, Jasmine (KEKE PALMER). Since her deadbeat dad, Roy (MALCOLM GOODWIN), walked out on her five years ago, Jasmine's mom, Claire (TASHA SMITH), has to work extra hours, meaning the smart but shy girl is left alone. Picked on by other students at her school where her only friend is her teacher, Ronnie Macer (JILL MARIE JONES), Jasmine feels like an outcast, and isn't pleased when her mom decides to pay Curtis to spend time with her after class.
Curtis isn't happy about the arrangement either, but that changes when he realizes that his niece seems to have an inherent gift for throwing the football. With zero interest in sports, she thinks he's crazy when he states she should try out as quarterback for the Browns. But from that point on, and after dedicated training with her uncle, she makes the team and leads them on an unlikely winning streak into the playoffs.