[# Otis Redding:
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)]
[bell ringing]
All right, darlin',
I'm so glad to see you.
You can read that book when we get home.
Come on, girl.
[indistinct chatter]
Sure, we're on tough
times here in Minden.
Tough times! That's right!
We are in such tough times I can say:
You know, I remember that song
Things Aren't the Way They Used to Be.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, things
aren't the way they used to be,
and I got something to tell you. They
might never get back to where they were!
[song continues]
Ladies and gentlemen,
we don't need anything else but this.
[congregation murmurs]
Jesus gave us a brain.
He gave us a heart.
- [woman] Thank you, Lord!
- That's all you need.
So, if you concentrate
on what you don't have,
you forget about what
you do have. Hallelujah!
[congregation] Yeah!
- [indistinct chatter]
- [whistle blows]
[man] Diggity, let me get 'em, throw 'em
down there, gotta look them twos, baby!
Whoo! Here they come! Bam!
- [players grunting]
- [whistle blows]
Team not lookin' that good this year.
Do they, Curtis?
Heck, they ain't looked
good in the last 25 years.
Damn! I ain't need no lemon!
Look at it, look it.
One more cherry,
I'd have won this thing.
Are we playing a game
here or what, man?
I'm playin'! You hold it up,
pick 'em up. Thank you.
That mean a double. Double trouble.
In the bubble. Here we go.
Pow! Look out there, double four!
Hey, Curtis!
Hey.
Man, you took your break
late today, huh?
Mm-mmm. Worked through it
so I can get to practice.
You know, if you want to help,
I can put in a word with coach.
I'm busy. Got too much on my plate.
I wouldn't want to cut into all
that beer drinking and backgammon.
[chatter]
- Go long, let me see what you got.
- I don't have time, man. My first day.
Hey, why don't you come by this week
and get a real meal?
- Who's cookin'?
- Val.
- Take a rain check.
- That's wrong.
[coach] Do not hesitate!
[song continues]
[chatter]
- Hey.
- Hey.
Why are you always reading at lunch?
I mean, is this like the nerd table
or something?
J.K.
- You double Dutch?
- Yeah, sure.
Me and a few girls are meeting behind
the gym after school. You should come.
- Yeah, OK.
- OK. See you there.
[girls laughing]
[bell rings]
[car door opens]
- [car door closes]
- [engine starts]
- So how was school today?
- Fine.
[sighs]
Can you put that book down, please?
Sweetie, listen, I had to pick up
longer hours at the diner.
- I'm not gonna get home till late.
- So?
- I don't want you here alone.
- But I can take care of myself.
Honey, there are plenty of after-school
activities you could be doing.
- Like what?
- I don't know! Like drama.
Dance. Something.
Listen, I need for you to try.
Fine, I'll try.
[chatter]
Fashion?
About yesterday... I am really sorry.
I just got confused. I thought it
was yesterday, but we're going today.
So a bunch of us are hanging out
over there. You should come.
You comin'?
You crazy? I ain't tryin'
to think about that stuff.
- Yo, what's up?
- So, Jasmine,
we seem to have a little problem
with the girls' bathroom.
Uh, the toilets are clogged,
and since your name is Plummer and all,
we figured you'd
be the one to unclog them.
[all laughing]
Plumber girl,
hope there's no dookey in it.
- [bell rings]
- Ouch.
What a loser.
[water running]
[turns water off]
Everyone hates me.
They think I'm an idiot.
Can I just stay home, please?
Please, Ma? I can take care of myself.
- Claire, I ain't seen him. OK?
- [scoffs]
So if you lookin' for that
child support or whatever,
- he don't contact me no more either.
- This is not about your brother.
- It's about your niece, Jasmine.
- What's wrong with her?
Curtis, I need somebody
to hang out with her in the afternoon
- until I get my hours changed.
- I ain't no babysitter!
Come on, you've been out of work
for months.
I know you don't expect me to
walk around here with some little girl.
I don't even like kids
and you know that.
Well, find somebody else.
So, what, you just gonna
walk away from me, Curtis?
Huh?
When your mama didn't have no place
to go, remember who took care of her?
You playin' dirty pool, Claire.
Bring my mama in this,
that ain't even fair.
[sighs]
Curtis, listen, man, all I'm asking you
to do is to pick her up from school,
keep an eye on her.
Just until I get home.
It's just a few hours a day.
- I give you five dollars an hour?
- Five dollars?
Just pick her up
from the school at 3:00.
Curtis, I don't have nowhere else to go.
Hey, girl.
Hey!
Hey!
So you gonna talk to me or what?
What you readin', anyway?
What does it say?
- "Ma-geeky"?
- It's a book,
and it's not "Ma-geeky",
it's Magique.
It's about a boy who
becomes a magical warrior,
so, if you don't mind,
I'm trying to read.
Hey, don't be getting smart now.
I'm only doing this for your mama.
All right?
I don't take no lip
from no little girls neither.
- 'Cause I got better things to do.
- Then go do 'em.
Where you? Jasmine!
Hey! Hey, girl! Jasmine!
Ain't worth no damn five dollars!
Hey, Jasmine! Come here!
[snoring]
[keys jingle, door opens]
- [Claire] Hey!
- Hey.
- So how did it go?
- All right.
So where's Jas?
- I don't know.
- [door opens]
- Jas?
- Hey, Mom.
Hey! So, did you have fun
with your Uncle Curtis?
Tons. What's for dinner?
- You didn't eat yet?
- No.
You didn't feed her?
You told me to watch her. You
didn't say nothing about feeding her.
That's because I thought
you had common sense.
Get somebody with
some common sense, all right?
'Cause I ain't got enough to deal
with that little girl. OK?
Get somebody else 'cause, to be honest,
she too weird and moody for me.
Curtis, she's not weird. She's shy.
She's still waiting
on her no-good daddy to show up.
She's wearing his watch 24 hours a day.
It wouldn't hurt you if you would
just be a little encouraging to her.
I ain't got no encouragement. None!
Go get Dr. Phil
or the Dog Whisperer or somebody.
- Not Curtis Plummer.
- Can you finish out the week?
Can I at least get paid?
You owe me 25 dollars.
Can you at least
feed her the next time?
So, what you gonna want to eat? Hmm?
For dinner? What you like?
Grilled cheese sandwiches? Huh?
What, you still not talking to me?
Why do you want to talk to me?
I'm too weird and moody.
You know I didn't mean that.
All right, I don't think you're weird.
I said I'm sorry.
All right, fine, we ain't gotta talk.
Why you carry that stupid football
around all the time?
- I don't carry this all the time.
- Yeah, you do.
So?
So... you're a grown man
carrying around a football.
Don't you think that's weird?
Not really.
And you stink, too. Always wearing
those same old dirty clothes.
Don't you know how to do laundry?
You should be embarrassed.
I'm embarrassed to even be with you.
You know what? Five dollars a hour ain't
worth dealing with a attitude like that!
Then don't. It's not
like I want you around anyway.
- It's not like I want to be around!
- Don't be! I don't need you!
Apparently, you do need me.
That's what your mama think.
Now I'm stuck with you! That's
'cause your father didn't want to be.
Man... Sorry! God!
Hey, Jasmine,
I didn't mean it like that!
Hey, slow down!
- Who are you here for?
- Hmm?
Who are you here for?
- Jasmine Plummer.
- Oh, great! Come right on in.
OK, class.
I would like to...
I would like to introduce Mr. Plummer.
What are you doing?
Would you like to come up here
and tell the kids what you do?
Oh, wait a minute. Hold on.
- Um, I'm her uncle, not her daddy.
- Oh.
It's OK. Nuclear family,
extended family. It's all family.
So would you still like to talk
to the kids, tell them what you do?
- Yeah, I can talk to them.
- OK.
Hold that.
- [kids giggling]
- OK.
- How y'all doin'?
- [all] Fine.
Um...
I do all kinda, like,
entrepreneurial endeavors.
Um... You know those
nutritional supplements?
OK.
- Yeah, I used to sell those.
- [kids snickering]
And, um, you know, I had people
all over the world, really,
all kinds of geographical locations.
I had a salesmen who, um,
would participate in network marketing.
[boy] Don't listen to him.
He tried to get my dad
to sell those vitamins.
- He said it's a pyramid scheme.
- It's not a pyramid scheme!
It's a, uh, multilevel, uh,
business opportunity.
That's a scam!
You're a scam artist!
- Your daddy's a punk.
- You a punk!
OK, Javy. Mr. Plummer. Can we say thank
you to Mr. Plummer, please? Class!
[all] Thank you, Mr. Plummer.
Thank you so much, Mr. Plummer,
for taking out the time with the kids.
[Curtis] I'm gonna see you
outside, Jasmine.
OK. Yeah, let's just...
You need to give him a F.
- I'll see you outside too.
- Thank you, Mr. Plummer.
Thank you, Mr. Plummer.
[kids snickering, whispering]
Jasmine! Jasmine!
Know what? I'm gonna meet you
down the block next time.
I ain't going nowhere near that school.
I didn't tell you to come
in the first place.
You're using them big words,
trying to make yourself sound important.
Mr. Entrepreneur. How come you
couldn't just say you were unemployed?
Why you didn't tell 'em?
I don't think my mom'd be cool
with me hanging out here.
I know she not gonna want you here.
That's why you ain't gonna tell her.
Curtis! Throw the ball here, boy!
Do you mind if I throw the ball
with the reverend a little bit?
Ah!
Knock yourself out.
So when am I gonna see
you back in church, boy?
I don't know, reverend.
I've been kinda preoccupied lately.
Preoccupied since your mama died.
It's been two years, Curtis.
It is time to move on, son.
Hey. Go long, brotha.
All right. Hit me.
Hit me, hit...
Oops.
Hey, girl.
Jasmine!
Jasmine, pick up that ball.
You ever play sports in school?
No, I don't like sports.
What do you mean,
you don't like sports?
- I want to be a model.
- A model?
[laughs]
For real? You don't even
look like the model type.
- What, I'm ugly?
- No.
I didn't say you was ugly, did I?
Just you always got your nose
in a book or something.
I thought you wanted to be something
a little more intellectual.
Next makeover candidate
deserves to feel like a queen.
So you ain't never
threw the football before today?
No, now leave me alone.
I'm trying to watch Tyra.
It's hard to believe, though.
You throw pretty good.
Shh!
Here is what Francesca looks like.
Come on out, goddess!
[Curtis] Is this a Tyra marathon
or somethin'?
You know, might as well just go on
outside and throw the football around
- a little before your mama come back.
- Shh!
All right. I'm shhh, shhh, shhh.
- You're not gonna shut up, are you?
- Nope.
Here we go! Here we go!
Here we go, go, go! Come on.
Hey, you kinda slow.
You gotta put a little pep in that.
Right here you go, hit me with your
best shot. Come on, girl. Right here!
Right here.
No!
Throw it like you did at the park.
With a little more oomph on it.
Right here.
Ha!
That was better.
But look, when you throw the ball,
first of all,
you got to have your feet apart.
What are you doing?
Look, you cannot stand like this
and throw the ball.
You have to be sideways,
point it, deliver.
You really stink.
- Do you know what a down and out is?
- You.
Funny.
Go ten spaces... bam.
Go out, hit me with the ball before I
turn out. Right in the hands. All right?
Come on, call it out.
- What?
- Let's go!
Gotta call it out.
"Hut, hut, hike." You know, like
quarterbacks do. Come on, hit me.
- Hut, hut, hike.
- Better than that.
- Hut, hut, hike!
- There we go. Come on!
Hit me! Hit me!
Ooh!
- Yeah!
- [door creaks]
Hey, Jasmine!
"The family was important
in New England.
Puritan children, like their parents,
had to work hard
and follow strict ideas of discipline.
Still, many families were close
and devoted to each other.
Even the chores and religious duties..."
You like throwing the football?
Yeah, it's cool.
Want to learn how to throw
like a real quarterback?
- [whistle blows]
- Sure.
First thing I'm gonna do
is show you how to grip this football.
See these laces here?
You gotta get your fingers on them.
That gives the ball the spiral.
That makes it spin.
All right, you grab it. Find your grip.
Give it to me.
- That's how fast you gotta get.
- OK, throw it to me.
Now, you grab it.
- Got it?
- Got it.
- Like it?
- Like it.
That's how you hold the ball.
That's your grip.
Mr. Peppers, you got any
of that field paint around here?
Yeah, I think there's some
in that back room there.
- Look under the dresser.
- Oh. Ah.
Got it. Thanks,
I'll bring it right back.
OK. Those your lines right here. I want
you to keep your foot in here, right?
See where my foot is starting?
Step out, bam, put it back.
Step out, bam, put it back.
Step out, bam, put it back.
Bam, put it back.
Good. Pretty good, you'll get better,
you'll get better.
Let's go throw some passes.
Step into it.
Give it to me. Deliver the ball.
Come on, deliver right here, to my
hands. Not here, not there, right here.
Step into it, remember
everything I told you, deliver.
Damn, girl!
Girl, you got a arm on you.
Can't we just toss it around
like we did yesterday?
No! That's boring.
- [sighs]
- Look, you wanna be a quarterback,
you gotta learn how
to hit multiple receivers.
Right here,
receiver number one: Beyonc.
Over here, receiver number two:
Foxy Brown.
And my personal favorite,
receiver number three: Tyra Banks.
Don't forget
what I told you, set your feet.
Do it like we said, all right? Ready?
- Ready.
- OK. Load up. Load up.
Hit Beyonc.
Bam!
That's what I'm talkin' about.
That's what I'm talkin' about.
All right, one more time.
Here we go. One more time. Come on.
Load up, load up.
Get ready, get ready.
Foxy Brown, hit her, hit her.
- Ouch!
- Whoo! Whoo!
- Man, right on.
- That girl's a phenom!
That's what I'm talkin' about.
Come on, load up, load up, load up.
Tyra. Hit her! Hit her.
- [gasps]
- [cheering]
Slayed that thing, girl!
I'm gonna go out for a pass, all right?
You gotta learn how
to hit a moving target, OK?
You ready to hit me now, all right?
Gotta go!
Beyonc!
Whoo! Yeah!
That was sweet!
Curtis got himself
a pro player out there now!
That girl throw that ball! That's what
I'm talkin' about now, that's football.
- That's football!
- [Curtis] You're good, girl!
You might be my niece after all.
So how have things
with Curtis and Jas been going?
Everything seems OK. I think they just
sit around and read books.
[both belch]
Man! I can't believe you live
in this place. It's so messy.
Is that my book? Man, I been
lookin' all over for this thing.
What's it doin' here?
- Have you been reading this?
- Yeah.
I saw how much you was into it,
so I just gave it a shot.
- And?
- It's good. I like it.
It's a good book.
Well, I read it two times.
You can have it.
Is this your yearbook?
Mm-hmm.
Don't laugh.
[Jasmine laughs]
Is this you?
Man, you look so funny.
That's me,
and then that's your daddy.
All right, let's just close that.
I'll show you later.
[exhales]
I should be getting you home.
OK.
No! No, you don't throw the ball!
It's an option play, right?
Option means you keep the ball
or you run with the ball
or you pitch the ball.
The man's shoulders are up-field,
what do you do?
Yes, go, do it again!
- Honest to God!
- [boy] Hut, hut!
- [whistle blows]
- [boys grunting]
This is where you're supposed to pitch
the football! What is hard about that?
You know what, guys? I would like
to win one football game, just one!
But we can't win a game
if we can't pitch a football!
- No way!
- Why not?
'Cause I'm a girl,
and girls don't play football.
What you think we been doing for
the last couple of weeks, crocheting?
It's just you and me having fun
so we don't die of boredom.
It doesn't mean I want to try out
for some stupid football team.
But you're good at it.
Right? Now, you owe it to yourself if
you're good at something to pursue it.
Let me show you somethin'.
Come on, let me show you somethin'.
These my conference MVP medals,
three years in a row.
These are cool.
Just picture a whole stadium
full of people cheering for you.
I just think it would be weird playing
football with a bunch of boys.
Look at Oprah...
being all rich and powerful.
You think she care about
the fact that she's not a guy?
But...
...I can't play football and be a model.
Yes, you can. I mean, look, Tyra Banks.
She's a model, talk-show host...
She even did a album.
Can't even sing, but she did it anyway.
I mean, you can do what you want to do.
I'll make you a deal.
Try out for the team,
just to see how you like it...
...and I'll buy you some more
of those fashion magazines you like.
How about this:
If I go out for the football team,
you ask Ms. Macer out on a date.
Your teacher?
I saw the way she looked
at you in the classroom.
All right.
All right, I'll ask her.
But when you try out for the team,
all this "I'm a girl" stuff,
you throw that out the window.
'Cause when you hit the field,
you're not a girl.
You're a football player.
[coach] Huddle it up, let's go!
[boy] All right, come on, huddle it up!
Come on, no playing around, hurry up!
- [boy 2] Blue 22, blue 22!
- [boy] Go long!
- Hut, hut!
- [all groaning]
Chrissakes, Feather, you're
not hikin' the ball to Yao Ming!
- Sorry.
- Turn around, let's go!
I think this team
is worse than last year's team.
We only won two games last year.
Hey, coach.
Curtis Plummer. Been a while.
- How's the team?
- Ah, not quite there yet.
What she supposed to be doin' here?
She tryin' out for cheerleader?
Yo, dookey girl!
I might have somethin'
that'll help get you there.
I wish.
You're a little too old, Curtis.
Not me, my niece. Jasmine, step up.
- Hi.
- Hi.
She's a girl. This is a boys' league.
- Says who?
- Says everybody.
- What position does she play?
- She's a quarterback.
- She's a quarterback?
- We got a quarterback.
Javy Hall.
Come on!
What the hell?!
Are you kidding me?
He's pretty talented.
[clears throat] Curtis.
You know what? He's getting better.
You want to let your niece get
all busted up 'cause what?
You want to relive your glory days?
Come on, Curtis.
I got a team to coach.
Do it again!
Jasmine.
- Where you goin'?
- I told you they wouldn't want me.
They gonna want you.
What I want you to do is give me
a three-step drop and hit me with it.
Come on, three-step drop, come on.
Go! Go.
You gotta be kidding me!
Get the ball in your hands...
All right, here we go, they lookin'.
[coach] Guys, it's a simple pass play!
OK, line it up.
Whoo!
Coach.
[Curtis] That's sweet!
Hmm.
All right, Manny, right side, let's go.
OK, we're gonna run a ten and in,
all right?
Relax, stay loose.
- Three-step drop. Deliver the ball.
- [coach] OK, let's do this.
What's your problem?
I'm not letting her put
hands under my King Kongs.
- Your what?
- My King Kongs, the magic?
- She's not touchin' it.
- You mean Ping-Pongs?
Stop cryin' and hike the damn ball!
Let's go!
Hut, hut!
[all laughing]
[whistle blows]
[coach] Hey! Hey!
- That's OK, Jasmine.
- Zip it!
- Do it again.
- Secure the ball, OK?
Secure the ball.
Comfortable.
Hut, hut!
Someone's been teachin'
somebody some football.
Good job!
Let's do a buttonhook.
Beyonc, buttonhook.
Hut, hut!
Who's laughing now?
- [coach] Go again. Let's go long.
- Hut, hut!
Very nice. All right, that's enough.
Let's go, guys, suit up, let's go.
She's got an arm, no question.
- Ball handling's kinda weak.
- I'll work with her.
She'll be better
than half the guys out here.
All right.
Thanks, coach, I appreciate it.
I know you didn't have to do that.
Hey, hey, hey, hey. You made it.
You on the team.
You on the team!
What I tell you?
I knew you could do it.
- Curtis, are you crazy?
- But, Mom, I am pretty good,
and you did say you wanted me
to do some after-school activity.
You said something
about after school!
Honey, are you serious?
Do you really want to do this?
Don't you think
I should at least... try?
- [Javy] # Yeah, come on, y'all
- [boy] # Yeah
# Bring it, bring it
Bring it down now
[boy 2] Whoo!
[Javy] # Come on, yeah
# Pick it up
- [boy 3] # Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
- [Javy] # Come on
- [boy 4] # Here we go
- [Javy] # Yeah
# All right, all right
Yeah, I like that #
- You nervous?
- No, I'm all right.
[boys chanting]
Go in here.
Let's go.
OK.
Let's see... get this.
Uh...
There, that's good. There you go.
- Be all right?
- Mmm... yeah.
- OK. Uh, get your jersey.
- Coach...
Um...
Can I have number 11?
I'll have a look.
[grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
Come on. Whoo!
Eww!
OK.
Oh! Oh-oh!
Lookin' good there.
Don't jinx my old number now.
Come on, hustle up, let's go.
[Javy] Blue 42, hut, hut!
[boy] Pass, pass.
[boy 2] Damon!
Gotta put that in his hands.
C, man, why don't you
come down here and join us?
I'm cool. When's Jasmine
gonna get some practice time?
Yeah! What you scared of?
She gonna make your boys
look like a bunch of pansies?
Dive, dive!
- Ha! Too late for that.
- Mm-hmm.
I'll do my best.
One more time.
Curtis is...
Watch the blitz!
- Go, come on.
- Go to line.
Cover two.
- Coach!
- Move. Game two.
Javy! Bring it in.
Come on! Hustle up!
- [whistle blows]
- All right.
Let the backup run a few plays.
Plummer.
You'll run a double-twin,
wide triangle.
Basically, you look for Damon
over the middle. Ten yards. OK?
He's gonna cut down the middle. Go.
Hustle, get in there. Take control.
OK, so we're gonna go to double-twins,
wide-end triangle. Got it?
- This is a joke.
- No way.
Ready? Break.
- [chatter]
- Shh! Shh!
[boy] Watch the ends!
Brown 19! Brown 19!
Hut, hut!
[Jasmine groans]
- [whistle blows]
- Oh!
Ooh! She's not much
of a scrambler, is she?
That's all right, Jasmine!
Shake it off!
[boy] This is a man's game, baby!
Ooh! Her mama would of saw that hit...
Ooh, ooh.
- Welcome to football.
- Back it up!
Red 37! Red 37! Hut, hut!
- [groans]
- [whistle blows]
Hey!
Hey. They're doing it on purpose.
Ain't even blockin'!
This time I'm gonna knock her
outta her training bra.
Red 19! Red 19! Hut, hut!
- [groans]
- [whistle blows]
She ain't the only girl
on the team now.
[groaning]
That's right! They'll block now!
I wish I'd have thought of that.
- Medic?
- Man.
[Macer] Good night, Ray.
- Ms. Macer.
- Oh! Oh.
Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.
Uh...
I left something in there for Jasmine.
I was coming to pick it up.
- Um, we just locked up.
- Oh, OK.
- All right, I guess I'll get it later.
- OK.
- So I mean, can I ask you a question?
- Sure.
You like football?
As in watching or...
[laughs] or playing?
As in watching.
Actually, watching Jasmine.
- Your niece plays football?
- Yeah.
She's the back-up quarterback for the
Minden Browns. First game's on Saturday.
How'd your niece
end up playing football?
It kinda runs in the family.
Yeah.
- So do you like football?
- Um...
- I like football.
- Cool.
- I could pick you up at noon.
- Wait. [stammers] Hold on.
Um, so... so are you askin' me,
like... like, on a date?
Well, I mean, it's kinda like... Yeah.
I mean, we could just go hang out,
talk, figure out what's what.
But I'd like for it to be a date.
I... I guess I wouldn't mind.
Oh, yeah? Cool.
Last drill of the day.
I call this my grilled cheese special.
Why is it called
the grilled cheese special?
Because if you knock down
all three of those cans,
I'll buy you grilled cheese
and I won't cook dinner.
Hallelujah. Let's do it.
Yeah! Yeah, one for one.
Let's see what you got.
Come on.
Pretty good. This time, I want you
to throw it through the can.
- Not at the can, through the can.
- OK.
Too high!
- You know those people?
- No.
- Think they know your face?
- No.
Come on, come on, come on!
Right here.
Aren't those dirty?
I mean, this one right here,
I know I can get... two more days
out of that one.
She's my teacher, Uncle Curtis.
Wear something nice.
It's just barbecue sauce.
And when you're with her today,
- don't try so hard.
- What you mean?
I mean, tell her she looks nice and...
Listen to what she has to say.
[coach] All right, defensive back,
over here, let's go.
- Thought there'd be more people.
- For a Pop Warner game?
People will start coming.
Back in the day,
we used to have this place rockin'.
Hi.
What up, Curt?
Time to tape your wrists up, Jasmine.
- Ditch this watch.
- Tape over it.
- What?
- Tape over it.
OK.
You look nice.
Thank you. And so do you.
- It's my favorite hat.
- [man] It's his only hat.
- [Javy] Hut, hut!
- [cheerleaders chant]
Run, run!
- [all grunt]
- [whistle blows]
Come on, Fisher,
mix it up a little bit!
Spread 'em out!
Come on, coach!
Come on, man, play Jasmine!
Fisher! Number 11!
Play Jasmine!
Play number 11!
Come on, man, play Jasmine.
[Jasmine] This is a total waste of time
if I don't even get to play.
When is it gonna be my time?
Probably when it's so bad,
they gotta use you.
Hold up. Wait a minute.
Remember when this factory was open?
- Remember that?
- No, not really.
Uh-uh.
Oh, man! It was a whole
different vibe around here.
- Come on.
- [cheerleaders] Be aggressive!
- [cheerleaders continue]
- [shouting]
Set and hut!
[cheerleaders] B-E aggressive!
B-E aggressive!
- B-E aggressive! Spell it!
- [whistle blows]
Yes! Whoo!
[man] Good block! Just like that!
Man, if this is a fight, they'd have
stopped this. We lost this, man.
It's all right! Come on, let's go!
Have we completed a pass today?
Hut, hut!
- Please, God.
- [Curtis] Coach!
Coach Fisher!
Jerry!
- Let Jasmine play.
- Go back to your seat, Curtis.
Come on, coach. Let her play.
Give her a shot.
She don't score, you won't hear from me.
I won't say nothing.
I swear! Aren't you sick of me yelling?
Put Jasmine in! Put Jasmine in!
Put her in!
- Time!
- [whistle blows]
Javy!
Plummer!
Plummer! Let's go, you're in!
Come on, let's go!
Get that helmet on. Hustle up!
- Yeah!
- OK.
- It's about time!
- Yes!
- Shotgun 50-wide motion. Let's go.
- All right. I got it.
That's right. That's right, Jasmine!
Let's go! Come on, girl!
Oh, my God!
Hey, you guys, check this out.
- They got a girl playin' quarterback.
- [boys snicker]
Wait, wait, no. I'm confused.
I thought they already had a girl.
[laughter continues]
All right, you guys. We're gonna do
a shotgun 50 wide-motion. Got it?
Oh, yeah. That's gonna work.
Check scoreboards, Manny. Wanna keep
running what we've been running?
Yeah, that's what I thought. All right,
you guys. Shotgun 50, wide-motion flag.
- You got it? Ready.
- Break!
[boy] All right. Here we go.
- [boy 2] Go.
- [boy 3] Let's go guys.
- [boy 4] Got a lady on the field!
- [boy 5] We got several of those!
- [boy 6] I got him!
- Come on.
- Hut, hut!
- Come on, baby.
Hut, hut!
[players shouting]
[boy 7] Pass, pass, pass.
Hit Beyonc! Hit Beyonc!
[boy 8] Eighty-one!
[cheering]
- Yeah!
- We did it! We did it!
- Yeah!
- Whoo!
- Yes! Yes!
- [crowd cheering, whistling]
[Curtis] That was sweet!
Huh? Huh?
That's what I'm saying.
- Good going, Jasmine!
- Jasmine! That was sweet!
Way to go, Jazzmatazz!
If you actually played the whole game,
we'd probably have won.
- Thanks.
- That was a good game.
What up? Come check us out.
Support the team.
Hands release. I want that going
through your mind every snap.
Elbow up, drive through the ball. Yeah.
Hey, hey!
Come check out my niece play football.
Young phenom playing quarterback.
- This football with a round ball?
- No, this is the real football.
Real football with helmets.
Come on Saturday.
Drive, drive, drive.
OK. Drive, drive, drive it!
Pull it, pull it!
Ball up. Down.
When that ball come up,
are you ready to fire?
- I'm ready.
- Like a gun cocking back.
Ready to shoot. Ball up.
Ready to fire.
Down. Three things a quarterback
need to remember?
Feet, hands, release.
Ball up. Down.
- Ball up. Ready to fire.
- I'm ready to fire.
You look like a quarterback.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [whistle blows]
She cannot lose her first start.
Tiger left, X special. OK?
You can do this! Get in there!
Where I come from, football is played
with a round ball and feet.
Tiger left-end special!
Tiger the left-end special!
Let's go, Browns! Let's go!
Blue 32! Blue 32!
- Come on.
- Hut, hut!
[players shouting]
[crowd chattering excitedly]
[man] Go, go, go!
[crowd cheering]
[all groan]
- Goal!
- Yes!
Goal!
- Goal!
- It's touchdown, man! Touchdown!
- Touchdown!
- Touchdown!
[crowd shouting, cheering]
That's what I'm talking about!
- Yeah!
- Oh, yeah. Come on!
- That's what I'm talkin'...
- Come on.
I did it! I did it! I'm a quarterback!
I'm a quarterback!
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
[humming]
[all grunt]
[all grunt]
[squeals]
Sorry.
Let's go!
[all cheering]
[man] Ya'll looking good!
[crowd chants] Plummer, Plummer,
Plummer, Plummer!
Come on, girl!
Let's go! Let's go!
[cheerleaders] Let's go Thunderbolts!
- Let's go Thunderbolts!
- Hut, hut!
- [grunts]
- [whistle blows]
[all gasp]
What's wrong?
Got a little dirt in your skirt?
- Back off!
- [crowd boos]
- Come on, get up. kid.
- You OK?
Let's go.
She all right.
That's right, good job! Good job!
Blue 52! Hut, hut!
[shouting]
Yeah, yeah!
Yeah! Whoo!
[all shout]
What's the matter?
Got a little dirt in your skirt?
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five
four, three, two, one!
Yeah! Yeah! We did it! We did it!
Yeah!
When you juked that linebacker,
I don't know what that man saw first,
the turf or Feather's ass
when he sat on the man!
Hey. Congrats on the game, guys.
- What's she doing here?
- What do you think? Part of the team.
I wouldn't be caught dead
playing football.
If you were playing football,
you would be dead!
- Six feet under, baby!
- Yeah, right.
Whatever. Just don't let me
catch you in the girls room again.
OK, Jaz-man?
Let's go.
Attitude.
They're just jealous.
Yep. This is it.
This curb right here did to me
what no defense in the state could do.
Tore my ACL,
ripped every ligament in my knee.
- What did you do?
- [scoffs]
Got a job at the factory.
Once that closed down,
out of work, like everybody else.
Why didn't you leave?
I should have left.
I ended up getting stuck.
You know, the history of sports
is really a history of firsts.
The first pitcher
to pitch a perfect game.
The first NFL team to go undefeated.
And now the first female quarterback.
Impossible, you say?
- You haven't met Jasmine Plummer.
- Hey.
- They're talking about Jasmine.
...to five straight victories.
Nobody's prouder
of this football team than I am.
But pride doesn't win football games.
Hard work wins football games.
Individuals have stepped up: Jasmine,
Feather, Manny.
Individuals.
But individuals don't win football
games. Team wins football games.
We've got two games left to play
to make the post-season.
- What wins football games?
- Hard work!
- What wins football games?
- Team!
- What wins football games?
- Hard work!
- What wins football games?!
- Team!
- What wins football games?!
- Team!
Bring it in!
Browns on three! One, two, three!
[team] Browns!
- Special teams.
- You got it.
[exhales]
Coach!
Dad!
[sighs]
- Hi.
- Hi.
- How's coach?
- He's doing OK.
But doc says too much stress, you know.
So no more football for now.
Oh.
Hmm.
Look, Jerry asked me
to coach the team.
That's cool.
Curtis, I can't do this alone, man.
Sorry.
I just think
I'm better off in the stands.
I ain't been on the field, man,
since... since I played.
Come on, Curtis.
Look at what you've done with Jasmine.
I know. That's just one girl, though.
It's not a whole team.
I just seriously think I'm
the wrong guy for the job.
All right.
Well, we play Harvey in three days.
And they're still
the best in the league.
You know I'll be there.
Right there in the stands,
rooting you on.
What you running from?
- I ain't running.
- I know a runner when I see one.
You're too young
to be feelin' sorry for yourself.
And too old to be this damn stupid.
You need to get yourself
out this park, boy.
Go.
[coach] Come on, now! We're in the
playoffs now. You better act like it!
Do I look like?
All right. Everybody listen up!
Heads up!
Coach Fisher's gonna be all right.
And so are we.
He wants us to win on Saturday,
and that's what we gonna do.
Looks like I'm gonna need a whistle
before the day's over.
Well...
I'll see if I can dig one up.
And stay down! Stay down.
Stop. Roll! Roll! Let me see!
Roll, baby!
Receiver should never
have false starts. Ever. Ever.
You gotta keep your eye on the ball.
Ready? Hut! Hut!
The game is won right here.
Line of scrimmage.
Give it to him, and you fake to him.
Keep your eye on him.
- Coach.
- Yeah?
I think you're gonna need
one of these.
- [chuckles]
- [team applauds]
Looks good, huh?
Are you serious?
Sometimes, you face opponents
that's bigger and stronger than us.
It's like facing a brick wall. Believe
you can run through a brick wall?
- [all] Yes, sir!
- Let me hear you say,
- "I believe!"
- [all] I believe!
- I believe!
- I believe!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- What we do?
- [all] We get down!
- What we do?
- [all] We get down!
Yeah! Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about.
- You love us.
- That's our team!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- What do we do?
- [all] We get down!
Yeah! Take me home!
If we're not committed to blocking
and tackling, not committed to winning.
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- What do we do?
- [all] We get down!
- What do we do?
- [all] We get down!
This is it.
We got time for one play.
- Y'all remember we practiced on Friday?
- [all agree]
OK, Feather, it's on you. All right?
Run it. Run it to perfection. Let's go.
Stay on your feet!
Stay on your feet!
- Strong right!
- Let's go, team!
Watch the back!
Motion!
Shift, shift!
Blue 32! Blue 32!
Hut, hut!
[players shouting]
Sweep! Sweep!
Not the Rooskie.
- The Roo... They got the...
- [man] Fumblerooskie! Take it home!
[cheering, shouting]
Rooskie! They ran the Rooskie!
The Rooskie!
Whoo!
- Touchdown!
- Playoffs!
- What's a Fumblerooskie?
- Fool, don't you know anything?
Hey!
By now, the entire country has heard
about female quarterback phenomenon,
Jasmine Plummer.
She's carried the Browns to the playoffs
and they need one more win
to reach Pop Warner's Mid-American
Super Bowl for the first time
in 20 years. Part of that delay may have
to do with the harsh times
that have hit Minden.
When the town's plant closed down,
jobs left, poverty and crime set in.
That is why Jasmine Plummer's rise
is so crucial to the town's
- struggling citizens.
- Hey.
Lookit here.
I don't know about the rest of you,
but that certainly
isn't the Minden I know.
Look outside there.
What do you see?
Main Street, right?
But the people in the news,
they are only gonna see
a rundown, dirty road.
- That's true.
- At the very least,
we can fix up our main drag,
now, can't we?
How we supposed to do that, rev?
This town ain't got no money.
- Nothing.
- It ain't all about the money.
Now lookit here.
The one thing we do know
is that here in Minden,
we got heart. Hey, lookit here.
Curtis and his team have shown us that.
Come on, ya'll.
Remember what I said in church
about if you only focus
on what you don't have,
you gonna forget about what you do have?
- Hmm.
- [quiet chatter]
Well I have another saying
when I ain't in church.
Sometimes, you just
got to wipe your own ass.
Amen.
- Shoot one over the side!
- You keep doing that, man, I tell you,
- I'll slap you upside your head.
- Get that? Hold up, hold up.
- Wait a minute.
- Man!
Got no time to be lookin'
at no scratch-off.
You can reach up better
with this roller.
Give me that!
What took you so long?
I almost killed myself.
Looking good, Kosowski.
- Hi, guys. Everybody's working.
- [chatter]
- [ladder rattling]
- Whoa, whoa! Hey!
- Kosowski! Grab that for me.
- All right.
All right. See you later.
- Hey, Minden's back!
- Whoa!
Minden!
I wanna take a little time right now
to acknowledge Feathers
for scoring an amazing touchdown
this Saturday.
Now, my favorite part is when
my man gets in the end zone,
he do the dance.
Man, you got to celebrate
all that hard work.
Let me see that dance, Feathers.
I want everybody to step in
and do that little dance.
See what you got.
[# Tag Team: Whoomp! (There It Is)]
Oh, my God!
What you got, pretty boy?
What you got?
Thriller?
Was you even alive when that came out?
What you got? Come on, long hair.
[all cheer]
Always a breakdancer.
You gotta work on that. Do ya'll wanna
see what I used to do on this field
- when I scored?
- Come on, show us, coach.
When I got in the end zone,
I had to go old school.
- Old school.
- Jasmine, you be the ref.
I used to clown the ref.
When I scored, when I got in the
end zone, I used to look at the ref,
and then I used to hand him the ball.
Act like I've been there before.
And that's what we gonna do on this
team. We act like we been there before.
We gonna have some class,
we gonna have some sportsmanship.
Blue 31! Hut, hut!
[players shouting]
[crowd whistles, cheers]
- [crowd] Yeah!
- [blows whistle]
- Here you go.
- Yeah, baby! Yeah!
Hut, hut!
Come on!
He's got it!
- [whistle blows]
- Yeah!
- We're going to the Super Bowl!
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
- Yeah!
Here we go. Here we go. Yeah!
[whistle blows]
- Congratulations, coach.
- Well done.
[man] Hey, Curtis.
Look like you done put on a few pounds.
What you want, Roy?
- What you doin' here?
- What I'm doin'?
I came to see my kid
play a little pigskin, brotha.
Been seein' her all over the TV.
Look like the apple fell
under the tree, know what I'm sayin'?
Come on, now, fix your face
and give your brother...
What's all that for?
What's the matter?
What's the matter? Do you know
what you did to that girl?
By leaving her like that?
Now you gonna show up here
out of the blue 'cause she on TV?
Look, a lot of things happened, man.
But I'm gonna make it up to Jasmine, OK?
How? After five years?
How you gonna make it up, huh?
What you gonna do, you gonna waltz in
and then waltz outta her life?
That's what you gonna do, Roy.
I know you, Roy.
Crawl back to whatever rock you done
came from under. We don't need you.
- Dad?
- Showing up like this a family...
Jasmine?
Is that my baby girl?
Oh, my goodness!
Look how big you got.
- You were amazing out there.
- We made it to the Super Bowl.
I know. I saw.
Congratulations. Gimme some.
Oh, my goodness! I miss you so much.
We did it.
You know, you lookin' like your daddy
out there, back in his day.
Let's go and celebrate.
- You wanna go get some ice cream?
- OK.
Come on.
I really love football.
Uncle Curtis is so great.
He's been teaching me.
You lookin' real good out there.
Actually, back when I played, I was
actually better than your Uncle Curtis.
- Really?
- I bet he didn't tell you that.
- He never told me.
- I taught that boy everything he knows.
How to throw the ball,
how to stay in the pocket,
- how to read the defense, everything.
- Wow.
But that was back
when he was a little bit skinnier.
So you are going to the Super Bowl.
Yeah.
Now that I'm back, I'm gonna be
in them stands hollering,
cheering you on.
I'm sure you gonna win.
[siren]
Oh, man, it's getting late.
Hey, Claire! What's the damage?
- I got it.
- You sure?
- I said I got it.
- All right.
All right, Jasmine.
I got some things to do.
- OK.
- I'll see you at the Super Bowl.
- OK.
- Come give me some.
I'm proud of you, OK? All right.
Bye, Dad.
[man] Get somebody else, man.
That's all.
Oh, OK, he's here. We can start.
Hey. What's goin' on?
I just got off the phone
with Pop Warner.
We gotta cover
our own costs for the Super Bowl:
Travel, hotel, insurance,
food, everything.
We don't need nothin' fancy,
so shouldn't be a problem.
- We don't have it, Curtis.
- The other team,
they come from towns
that have a lot of money.
We got the heart, we just
ain't quite got the pocketbook.
I don't know, reverend.
'Cause if we got heart,
we got everything we need.
[man] I feel like this is the day
I'm gonna hit. Feeling lucky.
[man 2] Mm-hmm.
Whoo! Come on, now, baby.
I need a new pair of shoes!
You need a new game, man.
I'm tired of beating you.
- What's this, 1,500 in a row?
- Hold up. I got cherries.
- Come on.
- You hear me? I got cherries.
- You mean lemons.
- No, no, brother. I got cherries!
- Jesus!
- That's right!
- We need to cash this in!
- What about the game?
- Forget that!
- Hold up!
My most prized possession.
It might be worth more than a few bucks.
It's for the team.
Thank you, Edgar.
He loves that ball, man.
That's all I know.
[clears throat]
Look... All right, all right.
- Here.
- Thank you! Thank you, Kosowski!
We better win!
- They got enough!
- Put that, put that down. Come on, man.
Come on with the cherries.
Come on, come on!
There you go. I feel you. Come on.
- Oh, I know you would...
- You better be glad I'm in a church!
Don't mind him, he's a little sensitive.
You act like it was your money.
You see this? Three cherries!
Great God!
Hey, reverend. Now, for 20 years,
you done heard me say
how much I wanted to leave Minden.
Ever since my first job at the factory,
that's what I've been
savin' up to do.
But forget all that.
I wanna go to the Super Bowl.
With this team and that quarterback.
So... I know it ain't much,
but I hope it's enough.
- Whoa!
- What?
I think we're going to the Super Bowl.
[male announcer] Good day,
and welcome to Miami Beach, Florida,
the home of sun, fun, and now two Pop
Warner teams vying for a championship.
The first female quarterback
to ever play in Pop Warner history,
she's here with us. I'm joined
in the booth by Shaun Parker.
- Good to see you.
- Thanks, John.
I am looking forward to seeing
Jasmine Plummer play in person.
- But she has her work cut out for her.
- But she's taking on a great team.
They won last year. I'm talking
about the Huntersville Eagles.
Just take a look at the stands. You can
see Huntersville fans have packed in.
- As for Minden, they're empty.
- We're a long way from Minden.
Where is Minden?
We gonna win the Super Bowl today.
You know why?
'Cause we from Minden.
And don't nobody got a heart like we got
heart right here in this locker room.
They might be bigger,
but damn it, we better. All right?
We gonna play fast,
we gonna play loose,
and we gonna play for each other.
We gonna hit 'em hard,
we gonna hit 'em often,
and we gonna have fun doin' it.
So let's go out there and show 'em
ain't no quittin' in Minden. None!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- Who are we?
- [all] Minden Browns!
- What we do?
- [all] We get down!
- What we do?
- [all] We get down!
Let's go. Bring it up.
I want you to hit everything
that move out there.
- "Believe" on three. One, two, three!
- [all] Believe!
Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
[announcer] Browns with the ball at
their own 40-yard line. First and ten.
Watch their running back
out of the back field.
Watch what you say.
Blue 31! Hut, hut!
[players shouting]
[boy] Pass!
[announcer] Pass incomplete.
Second down.
[chatter]
- Jasmine, the four-three defense.
- Blue 31!
Blue 31! Hut, hut!
- Pass incomplete. Third down.
- Damn!
That's the half. The score:
Eagles 16, Browns 0.
You OK? Come on.
[John] The Browns are down
16 to nothing at the half.
They cannot be happy
with their performance.
No, you're right, John. The Eagles
set the tone from the opening kick
and showed the Browns why they are
the defending Pop Warner champs.
Hey. You ready?
Why didn't he come?
I don't know. I don't know.
Well, maybe he made a mistake.
Maybe he thinks it's tomorrow.
He just ain't coming. OK?
Been knowing Roy my whole life.
All he do is run from his problems.
I guess a little of that
is in all of us, you know?
But out of all the mistakes
that I've seen him make...
...the biggest one was leaving you.
I promise you,
I'll never make that mistake.
So... why don't we go out here,
and not worry about what's going on
in the stands.
Let's just worry about what's going on
on the field.
'Cause I need a quarterback.
That's the only way we
gonna take this thing back to Minden.
Good to go?
- Yeah.
- Let's do it.
[John] Browns are storming back.
But they're down by 13 points.
- This'll take a miraculous comeback.
- [Shaun] We're going to find out
just how good a quarterback
Jasmine Plummer really is.
Blue 32! Blue 32!
Hut, hut!
[announcer] Back to pass
[# Fort Minor: Remember the Name
(featuring Styles of Beyond)]
Go, go, go, go, go!
Go, boy! Go! Go! Go!
- Yeah, baby! First down! First down!
- [announcer] And a first down!
- Hustle up. Hustle up.
- Ball at the 25 yard line.
Big Apple on two. Let's go.
Orange is for losers!
- Set!
- Browns line up. Double back set.
- And in motion.
- Blue 31! Blue 31!
- Hut, hut!
- The snap. Plummer back to pass.
- Hand-off to number 22!
- No! [shouting]
- He's at the 20, the 15...
- Go! Go! Go!
... ten, five...
Touchdown, Browns!
[announcer]
The old Statue of Liberty play!
Come on. We got to bring
the kitchen sink on this.
This brings up fourth and 12.
The Browns will need a good return here.
[Shaun] There's the snap. Punter sets.
Javy Hall beats his man
on the left side.
He blocks the kick!
He blocked the kick!
Eight seconds to go, no timeouts!
Chance for one more play!
The clock has stopped while
Browns offense takes the field.
Gator X, goal line. Gator X, goal line.
First and goal to go,
no timeouts for the Browns.
Ball on the Eagle ten-yard line.
Come on! Quick! Come on! Come on!
[man] Watch the weak side!
All right, this is it. This is it.
- Hut, hut!
- There's the snap.
Plummer back to pass. The blitz is on!
- She eludes one defender!
- Come on! Take the ball!
She's scrambling.
- Go!
- Plummer running out of room!
- Damon, hit it!
- She steps up to pass.
- [whistle blows]
- Incomplete!
[all groaning]
[announcer] That is the ball game,
and the Eagles win.
Second straight year
Pop Warner champions.
Love those Eagles.
Thank you for joining us in Miami for
the 43rd annual Pop Warner Super Bowl.
I'm John Hayes, along with my colleague
here in the booth, Shaun Parker,
thanks for joining us,
and we'll see you again next year.
- [man] Excuse me, Coach Plummer?
- Mm-hmm.
Hey, how you doing?
We're officials
with the Miami Pop Warner League.
We've real impressed
with what you've accomplished.
- Thanks.
- I've got an opening the best team.
- I'd love for you to be our man.
- If you haven't noticed,
Miami's not a bad place to live.
Got that right.
It's pretty nice around here.
It's Miami, man.
I'll give you a call.
[mouths] I'm sorry.
We almost there.
But you're just gonna leave.
I didn't say that.
I heard them offer you
the job in Miami.
Yeah.
They offered me the job.
They can offer me a thousand jobs.
But I ain't going nowhere.
But Miami's your dream.
It's the place you always wanted to go.
That's true. And I've been there.
It's a cool place to visit,
but it ain't like home.
[all cheering]
[boy] All right, Jasmine!
I'm really proud of you.
But... we lost.
Baby, we did not lose. We won.
Honey, did you look around?
Look at this town.
Welcome back, coach.
You did such a good job.
No matter what the score was,
I think it still turned out pretty good.
- Dad.
- Hey.
Should've told you a long time ago
how proud of you I am.
Thanks, Dad.
Hey, coach!
Game ball.
[crowd applauds, cheers]
Jasmine! Jasmine!
Jasmine!
Look, uh... sorry I couldn't
make the game, baby girl.
But I did see the highlights
on the news and...
...you looked amazing out there.
- Roy.
Why don't you just leave her alone?
You know what?
This ain't your deal, little bro.
Your season's over.
Come here, Jasmine,
let's, uh... let's go celebrate.
Come on.
Give your father your hand.
[scoffs]
- Well, it's like that, huh?
- Yeah.
Well... it's not like
y'all won that game anyway.
- I ought to kick his ass.
- Ennis.
No! We'll catch him at the park!
- I love you, Uncle Curtis.
- I love you too.
It's gonna be all right.
Forget about him.
Let's go celebrate.
[crowd cheering]
:: w e R c z ::