 In 1925, Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly (George Clooney) is captain of the Duluth Bulldogs, a struggling professional American football team.Dodge is determined to save both his team and pro football in general when the players lose their sponsor and the league is on the brink of collapse.He convinces Princeton University's college football star, Carter "the Bullet" Rutherford, to join the Bulldogs, hoping to capitalize on Carter's fame as a decorated hero of the First World War (like Alvin York, he single-handedly captured a large group of German soldiers).