Rick Dockery wakes up in a hospital, unsure of how he got there. He sees his agent, Arnie, who informs him that he has been unconscious for nearly 24 hours after taking a brutal hit in the final minutes of a professional football game, resulting in a disastrous loss for his team. He has officially been released from the Cleveland Browns and, because of his poor performance, no other teams are interested in picking up his contract. Arnie encourages him to retire, but Rick insists that he wants to play football.

The next day, Rick learns that angry Browns fans tried to storm the field as he was being carted off, and that others were arrested after making a scene outside the hospital. Arnie encourages Rick to give up on football and find a new career. After reading an article in which local sportswriter Charlie Cray calls him one of the worst athletes of all time, Rick collapses into tears.

Arnie calls the staff of half of the other teams in the league to try to find Rick a spot on a roster, but no one is interested. Arnie met Rick when he was a senior at Iowa.