'NFL People Were Wondering if I Could Read a Playbook'

Michael Oher of Blind Side fame says book and movie created false perception that he's stupid
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2024 7:51 AM CDT
One Aspect of Blind Side Still Rankles Michael Oher
Former NFL player Michael Oher, whose story became the inspiration for the Oscar-nominated movie "The Blind Side," signs books at an event for his memoir at a store in Baltimore, Aug. 21, 2023.   (AP Photo/Stephen Whyno, File)

The football player made famous in the book and movie The Blind Side is speaking publicly for the first time since he filed a lawsuit against the couple who took him in as a teen. In a New York Times Magazine profile, Michael Oher talks about how he feels exploited by the Tuohy family of Tennessee, and he reveals that one aspect of the way he was portrayed in the book and movie still rankles—he was portrayed as stupid.

  • "The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook," the 38-year-old (who has retired from the league) tells Michael Sokolove. Oher adds that he thinks the perception cost him a higher draft spot and thus money.

  • On seeing the movie for the first time: "It's hard to describe my reaction," he says. "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 social media was just starting to grow, and I started seeing stuff that I'm dumb. I'm stupid. Every article about me mentioned The Blind Side, like it was part of my name."
  • Oher says he appreciates that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy white couple, gave him a home when he was a disadvantaged Black teen. "I had a bed to stay on. I was eating good. They got me a truck," he says. The downside to that? "The first time I heard 'I love you,' it was Sean and Leigh Anne saying it," he says. "When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable. You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you. It turns into a hurt feeling."
(Read the full story. Last year, a judge ended the conservatorship set up for Oher by the Tuohys, who have denied allegations that exploited him. Oher claims he is owed millions.)

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