Plot
In Urbania, Ohio, Danny O'Shea always lived in the shadow of his older brother Kevin, a Heisman Trophy winner and local football hero. Kevin coaches the "Pee-Wee Cowboys" football team. Despite being the best player, Danny's daughter Becky, nicknamed Icebox, is cut during try outs solely because she is a girl. Also cut are her less-talented friends, Rashid Hanon, Tad Simpson, and Rudy Zolteck. After being ridiculed by the players who made the team, she convinces her dad to coach a new pee-wee team of their own.
Danny eventually accepts in an attempt to show Urbania that Kevin is not invincible, and that there is another O'Shea in town capable of winning. Kevin reminds him of the "one town, one team" rule enforced by the pee-wee football League, and with the support of the locals, they decide to have a playoff game to determine the lone team that will represent Urbania. Alongside Becky, Hanon, Tad, Rudy, and Nubie (a boy who becomes assistant coach), Danny gathers other children that were been given a chance and dubs the team the "Little Giants." One such player, strong-armed quarterback Junior Floyd, is the son of Danny's childhood crush, Patty Floyd.
Two old-timers, Orville and Wilbur, encourage the rivalry between Danny and Kevin, reporting to them that a new star player, Spike Hammersmith, has just moved to Urbania. Danny recruits him by tricking his father, Mike, into believing he is the famous "Coach O'Shea". However, Spike refuses to play on a team with a girl. The deception is later discovered and he switches over to Kevin's team. Kevin also encourages his daughter, Debbie, to become a cheerleader and later tells Becky that a quarterback will want to date a cheerleader, not a teammate. Believing it is her best chance to win over Junior and feeling exploited as her father's best player, she decides to quit the Giants and pursue cheerleading.
Just as Danny's team start to lose hope, a bus arrives carrying NFL stars John Madden, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, Tim Brown, and Steve Emtman. They teach the kids about football and inspire them to believe they can win.
The day of the game, Kevin goads Danny into making a bet: If Danny wins, he gets Kevin's Chevrolet dealership; if Kevin wins, he gets Danny's gas station. Facing a 21-point halftime deficit, the Giants' spirits are lifted when Danny gives them a speech, inspiring them to each remember a time when they had a unique accomplishment. He reassures them that they only need to beat the Cowboys one time to prove themselves. With this, they begin to play better and make a comeback. Realizing that Junior is the main threat to the Cowboys, Mike Hammersmith orders Spike to take him out of the game; Spike injures Junior by spearing him with his helmet after the whistle, leading Kevin to reprimand Mike for his son's unsportsmanlike conduct.
Witnessing the attack on Junior from the sidelines, an enraged Becky drops her pompoms and suits up for the game. She makes an impact when she forces a fumble after a hit on Spike. In the game's closing seconds with the score tied at 21, the Giants make a goal line stand when Becky stops Spike. With time remaining for one final play, their offense steps back onto the field and uses a play Nubie calls "The Annexation of Puerto Rico," inspired by Tom Osborne's “fumblerooski”. The play includes three different ball carriers, utilizing the hook and lateral from Zolteck, to Junior, and finally to Berman, who scores the Giants' 99 yard game-winning touchdown.
Afterwards, Danny suggests that rather than having the Giants solely represent Urbania, they should merge with the Cowboys, so that both he and Kevin can coach the team. Danny and Patty rekindle their childhood romance. He also decides not to hold Kevin to the prior bet, on the stipulation that the town water tower be changed from "Home of Kevin O'Shea" to "Home of The O'Shea Brothers," reflecting a much earlier promise that Kevin made to Danny from their childhood.
