Former NFL tackle Michael Oher speaks publicly for first time since court case against Tuohy family
Super Bowl champion tackle Michael Oher publicly discussed his court case against the Tuohy family for the first time in an interview with The New York Times for an article published Sunday. Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy had a conservatorship over Oher from high school throughout his eight-year NFL career.
In 2009, the same year Oher was drafted to the Baltimore Ravens, Warner Bros. released “The Blind Side,” a movie depicting the relationship between Oher and the Tuohy family. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw starred in the film as Leigh Anne and Sean, respectively, grossing just under $310 million at the box office.
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“It’s hard to describe my reaction,” Oher said, recalling his first time watching the film when speaking with The New York Times. “It seemed kind of funny to me, to tell you the truth, like it was a comedy about someone else. It didn’t register. But as social media was just starting to grow, and I started seeing stuff that I’m dumb. Every article mentioned ‘The Blind Side,’ like it was part of my name.
“If my kids can’t do something in class, will their teacher think, ‘Their dad is dumb — is that why they’re not getting it?’”
The film was based on Michael Lewis’ 2006 book on Oher and the Tuohy family. Prior to the release of the movie, Oher felt Lewis’ book also made him seem uneducated, which Oher felt affected his draft status. Oher was selected with the No. 23 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
“The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” Oher said.
Oher eventually went on to have a successful career in the NFL and won Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 when the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers.
In Oher’s lawsuit against the Tuohys, his lawyers allege the Tuohys exploited him by using his name, image and likeness to promote speaking engagements that paid them roughly $8 million over the last 20 years — and by repeatedly saying they adopted him. In August 2023, Oher issued a 14-page petition alleging the Tuohys lied about adopting him when they presented him with paperwork to make them his conservators months after he turned 18.
The petition also alleges the Tuohys negotiated a deal with Twentieth Century Fox that secured them and their two birth children $225,000 each, plus 2.5 percent of “defined net proceeds” from “The Blind Side.” The petition said a separate contract purportedly signed by Oher in 2007 “appears to give away to Fox, without any payment whatsoever” the life rights to his story. Oher says he has no memory of signing such a document, according to the filing.
