Michael Oher, the former NFL player who shot to stardom as the subject of the book (and movie) The Blind Side, is speaking publicly for the first time about the lawsuit he filed against the family that took him in as a teenager.
The 2006 book by Michael Lewis and subsequent 2009 film starring Sandra Bullock told the story of a Tennessee family, the Tuohys, taking in the teen football star who had been in and out of foster homes, and supporting him on his rise to professional football stardom.
Both the book and the film suggested that Oher had been adopted by the family at 8—but he was actually placed under a legal conservatorship.
Oher’s conservatorship was terminated by a Tennessee court in September 2023—but he claims he is still fighting to recoup a sizable chunk of the money his image and likeness generated for the Tuohys through their lucrative public appearances, according to The New York Times Magazine.
The magazine cites that Leigh Anne was able to make tens of thousands for speeches she gave about Oher as a result of his conservatorship.
Despite his ongoing legal battle against the family, Oher admits that his time with them wasn’t all bad.
“Honestly, it was great. I had a bed to stay on. I was eating good. They got me a truck,” Oher told the magazine in the interview published Sunday.
Then-Carolina Panthers tackle Michael Oher blocks Houston Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus.
Jim Dedmon/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In addition to money made off of him, Oher feels cheated in other ways. For example, the film version of “The Blind Side” strongly suggested that he wasn’t very smart.
He blames this perception for costing him a higher draft position—and the millions that likely would have come with it.
“The N.F.L. people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” Oher told the Times of his first impression in the league.
In his discussion with the Gray Lady over the weekend—his first about the lawsuit since it was filed—Oher says his ongoing legal battle is not about money at all.
He still has “millions of dollars” from his playing days and is by no means struggling—but he said he still suffers from the false narratives that have followed him to this day.
“It was as soon as I got there, I was defined,” Oher said in regard to his time in the NFL. He claims he didn’t file sooner because his career consumed too much of his time.
In response to the suit, the Tuhoys accused Oher of extortion through text messages and told a Memphis paper they felt “devastated.” They didn’t comment on the Times’ story.
