Drew Gavin, a former University of New Mexico star defensive end, is reduced to churning out jaded sportswriter commentary for the Albuquerque Gazette. He is suddenly reminded of his glory days when he crosses paths with his college sweetheart, Helen Graham, at the homecoming game. Helen asks Drew to help her husband, Freddie, who is indebted to an intimidating bookie, Three Eyes Sanchez. She asks Drew to buy her husband more time to pay his tab. Acting on nostalgia, Drew is soon exploded out of his familiar office chair, and into dingy back-door betting dens. He discovers more than he wants to know about Freddie's gambling debts and the corruption behind the scenes of professional sports. When a murderer slips into the game, Drew must confront shady bookies, powerful business men, creepy killers, preying journalists, and the ghosts of his own past.
