‘SPOILER ALERT’

Joe starts his morning by doing some exercise, and taking his regular meal just before he heads over for his game. He is the star quarterback for his team, and the next game is important as it could get them to the playoff finals. 

During the game, Joe has a clear shot to pass the ball to one of his teammates named Sanders, but he chooses to run solo and score the touchdown to become the hero.  

With his point, the team makes it to the playoff finals, and later that night, he hosts his teammates at his house for a party. After a while, Sanders says it’s already late, and he has got to go home. 

However, Joe and some of his other friends joke about how Sanders is running home to meet his wife. Sanders doesn’t think it’s funny, and tells them they’ll understand when they have a family. 

Much later, everyone leaves and Joe is then left in the house with his dog. 

In the morning, he watches a show where the reporter criticizes him for not having a championship to his name, even though he often steals the show and plays well. The reporter also says Joe is getting old, and this might be his last chance to win a championship. Joe doesn’t like the criticism and makes fun of how the reporter talks.  

A while later, his doorman, Larry, calls Joe to inform him that a young lady is there to see him. Joe looks excited and asks Larry to send her up, thinking it’s one of his girlfriends. However, when he opens the door, he sees a little girl named Peyton. 

Joe is surprised to see a little girl at his door, and he initially thinks she’s there to sell him cookies, so he offers Peyton some money, but she says she doesn’t want it. 

Before he lets her say anything else, he says he’ll sign an autograph for her if that’s what she wants. He goes back inside and says he’ll be back, but Peyton comes in and starts playing with Joe’s dog.  

Seeing as she just walked into the apartment, Joe tells Peyton that she can’t just enter the apartment of a stranger. He asks where her mother is, but Peyton says she’s on an airplane. Joe is shocked to hear this, and he asks who she’s there with. 

Peyton says she’s there with her father, and when Joe asks her to go back to the lobby because he’d be looking for her, she tells him he’s the one she’s talking about. 

Peyton says that even though they’ve not met before, she’s the daughter he had with his ex-wife Sara. Joe is shocked and doesn’t know how to respond. He takes a good look at her and then laughs it off as some sort of a prank, because he knows he never had a kid with Sara. 

However, Peyton hands him a letter from Sara, telling Joe to take care of his daughter for a month, because she has an emergency to deal with. 

Joe thinks the letter is not enough, but Peyton shows him her birth certificate, which has his name written as her father. Immediately, Joe calls his agent, Stella, and tells her there’s a situation he needs her to fix. 

Stella arrives and is also shocked to see Peyton. She tells Joe that he should’ve mentioned something about having a child, so that she’d have prepared better for how to deal with it. 

Joe says he and Sara got divorced barely a year after they got married as young lovers, and he has not seen her in 8 years. 

As he confirms that the last time, he saw Sara was 8 years ago, Stella asks Peyton how old she is, and she says she’s eight. Joe soon realizes that there’s a possibility that Peyton is his daughter.  

Stella tries to intimidate Peyton with several questions about where she’s from, but Peyton doesn’t look moved. 

When Stella also asks where Sara is, Peyton says she went to Africa for a relief project. She also explains that her mom put her in a car to his house, after which she headed to the airport. Stella suggests calling Sara or emailing her, but Peyton says her line is not reachable, and there’s also no stable internet service where she went. 

As they wonder what they’ll do to Peyton and if there’s anyone else, she can live with, Joe says he remembers that Sara had a sister named Karen. 

They ask Peyton about Karen, but she says her aunt is dead. With no other option, Stella starts to think of damage control tactics for the media, because she believes Joe will appear like he ditched his daughter after all these years. 

Joe, however, tells her not to worry because he and Peyton don’t even look alike, and no one will know she’s his daughter. 

Shortly after, Joe heads out for practice and decides to take Peyton along with him. She refuses to enter the car because there’s no back seat, but to make her feel safe, Joe gives her his helmet to wear, so that they can start going. 

During the ride, Peyton starts asking Joe several questions about what he likes the most, and what he thinks is the best thing to ever happen to him. Joe mentions things related to his career, and Peyton doesn’t look impressed.  

Soon after, Joe suspects that Peyton keeps trying to change the topic every time he mentions Sara. He asks Peyton about it, but she offers him some cookies instead of answering. He accepts the cookies and continues to wonder why Sara didn’t come to drop Peyton off herself. 

As they get to the stadium, Joe realizes that his voice has gotten thinner, and he asks what Peyton put in the cookie. 

When she calls out cinnamon as one of the ingredients, Joe doesn’t look too pleased as he says he has a cinnamon allergy. Peyton then tells him that she also has a nut allergy. 

Joe meets up with his teammates, and as they see Peyton following him around, they think she’s a rouge fan, but she clarifies that she’s Joe’s daughter, leaving them shocked as they didn’t know Joe had a kid.  

The next day, Joe tells Peyton he can’t let her eat foods containing high sugar because, in his house, everyone eats like a professional. 

He stops her from opening the fridge a couple of times, and when he finally prepares the food, it happens to be a mountain plate of pasta. Even though Joe eats his own, the food looks too scary for Peyton, and she ends up giving it to the dog.  

That night, Peyton asks him to read a bedtime story to her, but he doesn’t seem interested. She then offers to tell him one, and not long after, he falls asleep. 

Peyton then goes into Joe’s room and secretly calls her mom, who asks her several questions about her ballet school. 

Peyton whispers to answer the questions, as she doesn’t want Joe to hear her. Before she ends the call, Peyton’s mom tells Payton to send her some pictures soon. 

In the morning, Peyton wakes Joe and asks if there’s a ballet school around, but Joe says he doesn’t know. As he’s preparing breakfast, Joe asks why Peyton is not in school, and she says it’s because she’s currently on break. Joe doesn’t believe that, but Peyton manages to convince him. 

While at practice that day, Stella brings some potential nanny candidates, and asks Joe to pick one for Peyton. As he takes a look at them to decide, Sanders tells him to ask them some questions, but Joe says it’s not important because he has great instincts. 

He finally makes his choice, and the lady is very excited and celebrates in front of the other candidates, before facing Peyton and saying they’ll be like sisters. 

That night, Joe takes Peyton with him to a bar where the team is hanging out. While Joe is joking with everyone he talks to, Peyton gets one of the players to play dress up for her doll. 

After a fun party, Joe leaves and starts singing loudly as he drives away. He soon realizes that he forgot Peyton at the party and speeds back. However, by the time he sees her, there are a lot of reporters who then realize that he has a daughter, and he left her at the bar.  

This makes the headlines the next day, with Joe being painted as a bad dad. Stella says they have to do damage control with a press conference she has set up for Joe and Peyton. 

Before they go in, Stella tells Peyton that she needs to cooperate with Joe, and make him look good. Peyton agrees to do that but on the condition that they don’t hire a nanny for her. 

Stella and Joe don’t think she’s in a position to make demands, but when Peyton threatens to tell the press that Joe gave her a drink at the bar, they agree and fire the nanny. 

At the press conference, Joe fails to impress the journalists, who think he’s doing a bad job defending himself. Peyton, however, saves the day by making things up about how great Joe is. Joe thanks her for this, but she whispers into his ear that it will cost him.  

The next day, Joe takes Peyton to a ballet class, but the teacher, Monique, says classes have started and they don’t take students without an audition. 

Joe tries to convince her, but as Monique sees Peyton showing some moves, she decides to take her in. During the class, Peyton sneakily takes several pictures with her phone. 

Joe stays until the end, and as Monique tells Peyton she did a good job, Joe says she’ll be coming every day. Monique says she doesn’t run a childcare facility, and if Joe wants her to stay, he also has to be committed to the school. 

Joe tells her to make an exception since he’s a superstar, but Monique doesn’t seem to know who he is, and he leaves angrily, saying she probably lives under a rock.  

At his game the next day, Joe steals the show again and takes his team to the next round. Meanwhile, Monique sees that Joe has not picked Peyton yet, so she takes her to meet him, while he’s having a massage after the game. 

Monique tells him that he needs to start being a serious father, and Joe says he cares about Peyton, but at the moment, he has a team that depends on him to bring the championship home. 

Monique tells him to prove that he cares for Peyton, and when he asks what to do, she takes him to the ballet school, and tells him he will act as a tree, as part of their ballet performance for an upcoming show.  

Joe laughs it off, but Monique is serious. Joe doesn’t mind anyway because he thinks ballet is too easy for him. Monique then puts him through the moves, and after an intense training session, Joe can’t seem to catch his breath, and Monique mocks him.  

The next day, Peyton whispers again to speak to her mom, who says she misses Peyton and asks her to send some pictures. 

Peyton sends the ones she took during her ballet class, but she ends the call abruptly when she sees Joe coming in. Joe then shows Peyton to her new room, and she loves it. He tells her that even though he’s new to being a father, he’s trying his best to make her happy. 

Not long after, while they’re watching the TV together, Peyton asks Joe for the best thing that has ever happened to him. 

As he thinks about it, he gets a call from his girlfriend, Tatianna, who says she’s coming to his place soon. Joe is excited to see her, and even as Peyton asks him questions about her, he just ignores. 

Tatianna soon arrives while Joe is still deciding what to wear. Peyton comes out and doesn’t look so happy to see Tatianna, but Joe finally shows up and says he’s taking Tatianna on a date. As they’re about to leave, Peyton pretends not to feel well, and because of this, Joe has to cancel his date, so he can stay with Peyton.  

When they get back in, Peyton says she can’t believe he kicked Sara out of his life, just to be with someone like Tatianna. Joe says he didn’t kick Sara out, and she was the one who kicked him out. 

Peyton disagrees with this, and says her mom always said he didn’t care about anyone but himself. Joe loses his cool and says Sara was always complaining and trying to get into a fight, and that’s exactly what Peyton is doing. 

He says he’s lucky because she doesn’t look like him, and Peyton walks away angrily, saying she wants her mom.  

Joe realizes he said too much and tries apologizing to her. She doesn’t sound interested, and then he starts singing at the entrance of her room. 

Peyton eventually comes to open the door, and Joe says sorry for what he said. He tells her he’s ready to do anything she wants, and Peyton asks him to come with her to play at the mall with her friends.  

He takes her there but struggles to control the kids, so he calls Monique to come over to give him a helping hand. 

She soon arrives, and he tells her he’s struggling with the kids. As they then keep talking, Joe says only mothers can handle things like that, but Monique says fathers are also great, because they can give you the courage you didn’t know you had.  

Peyton interrupts them, and asks to paint Joe’s hands. He lets her do it, and the next day in practice, his teammates laugh about it. Soon after, they start training, and Peyton also joins the team. Later on, Peyton and Joe also go for ballet practice.  

Days later, Joe and Peyton arrive for the ballet show they’ve been practicing for. He asks Peyton to give some flowers to Monique, and as she does that, Monique hands over what Joe will wear. 

Joe doesn’t think he’s going to wear it because it looks too small, but Monique tells him he has to. 

Just before they step out for their performance, Peyton looks scared of facing the crowd. However, Joe shows up and encourages her, while also making her laugh about his outfit. 

As she steps away, Joe’s teammates show up and laugh at him. They also tell him that the whole team is there to watch the show. The performance goes well, and even though Joe’s teammates laugh at him at first, they seem to enjoy it and applaud the dancers. 

The next day, Joe’s team also wins their game and makes it to the final.  

Days later, Joe and Peyton invite Monique for a lunch date. As they talk about the upcoming championship final game, Joe says Peyton won’t be around, because Sara would’ve returned from her trip. 

Peyton confirms this and says she’ll need to leave before Sara returns. Joe doesn’t understand this, and he asks her why she’s going to do that. 

Peyton decides to confess, but an allergy kicks in, and it turns out there are nuts in the food. Joe thinks she’s pretending at first, but it turns out to be real, and Joe carries her and runs to the hospital. 

After a while, the doctor tells Joe that Peyton will be fine, and he looks relieved. However, Karen walks in and blames Joe for what happened to Peyton. 

Joe is surprised to see her as he thinks she’s dead, but Karen says it was Sara who died. It then turns out that the person Peyton has been secretly speaking to and referring to as her mom is Karen. 

Karen says she didn’t know Peyton came to him, after she put her in the car to her ballet school. She also says Peyton doesn’t need him, and they’ll return home together. Joe says he wants Peyton with him, but Karen disagrees.  

Peyton settles it by saying she’s going home with Karen, despite Joe asking her to stay. Peyton leaves with Karen, and Joe is sad about it. 

That night, he sees that she forgot her bag. When he checks inside, he sees some pictures of Sara and Peyton, as well as the original letter Sara tried to send Joe before she died.  

The night before his big game, he watches clips of his games at the training center, and realizes that he never passes to Sanders. Sanders also comes in right on time to see Joe looking bothered, as his call to Payton goes to voicemail. 

When Joe sees Sanders, he asks him what to do about Peyton, and Sanders tells him to make sure Peyton knows he loves her, and nothing will change that. 

He says after doing that, he needs to remain patient until she comes to find him again. While speaking to reporters ahead of his game, Joe is asked a question about Peyton leaving him, and he takes the opportunity to say that he loves and cares for her. Peyton watches this on the TV with Karen, and she looks sad to be away from her dad.  

Days later, its game day, but Joe looks distracted and doesn’t perform at his best. His team starts to trail the other team, and as the game goes on, he gets knocked down badly. 

This gets him injured, and he’s taken to the locker room on a stretcher. He is asked if he can continue, but Joe says someone else has to step in for him. 

As he remains in the locker room after the game continues, Peyton shows up and tells him that she had to come to see him. Karen also comes in and says Peyton can now stay with him, because she needs her father.  

Joe looks happy with this, and despite being injured, Peyton tells him to go out and fight for his team. Joe hesitates at first, but he decides to listen to his daughter. 

As he steps out, he tells Peyton she’s the best thing to ever happen to him. 

He rejoins the game, and just a few seconds before the game ends, Joe passes the ball to Sanders to score the touchdown that wins them the game. The team celebrates this, and as a reporter asks Joe what he wants to do first, he just says he wants to take his daughter home.  

Peyton goes to her dad and sounds happy for him, as she says he has finally won a championship. 

Joe hugs Peyton and tells her he has won much more by having her with him. They then join the celebrations, and Peyton also holds on to the trophy. 

The Game Plan.