Back in his prime, Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Adam Sandler) was the quarterback everyone loved. But when accused of shaving points off a football game, he was out of the picture and hasn't been seen in action since. One night when his obnoxious girlfriend tries to get him to attend her party while he's in the middle of watching a football game he tricks her into going into the closet for a "gift" he had stashed away for her and locks her inside. Then he takes her car out for a drive (even though he's extremely drunk and paranoid). He's later stopped by the police, but proceeds with his wreckless driving anyway, only to end up in a huge pile up that ends with the car being completely wrecked and surrounded by thousands of policeman all over television! Crewe is later sent to Allenville State Penitentiary where he meets the gruesome guardsmen headed by Captain Knauer (William Fichtner) and commanded by the sleazy Warden Hazen (James Cromwell). After spending a week in the hotbox, Hazen recruits him to help out with the guards' football team. But despite Crewe's previous refusal, he decides to organize a "fixed game" in which the prison inmates [under Crewe's leadership along with the helpful support of Caretaker (Chris Rock) and legendary football coach Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds)] will organize a football team of their own for a game of football against the guards. This is the moment every convict has been waiting for: a free shot against the guards. The one chance for one day to take a stand in the midst of a contact sport and fight back! Now the guards are about to get something they have had coming to them for a long time: Payback by the inmates! Of course, Crewe dosen't expect his boys to stand a chance against Hazen's Guards. But come game day, it takes a valuable lesson in self-respect and pride to learn that in order to get your second chance, you have take it like there's no tommorow or spend the next twenty-five years in Allenville Prison.