Michael Oher discusses the legal dispute “Blind Side – The Big Opportunity”

Michael Oher accomplished a lot in his life and football career. He was a unanimous All-American offensive tackle for Ole Miss. He was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. He played eight seasons in the NFL and won one Super Bowl.

But he will probably be remembered most as the subject of Michael Lewis' 2006 book: The Blind Side: The Development of a Game, and the 2009 film of the same name.

The feel-good story at the heart of the book and film took a bitter turn in recent years when Oher filed suit against the Tuohy family, claiming they exploited him for financial gain and lied about their relationship. The Tuohy family responded by accusing Oher of trying to blackmail them and sending “threatening” text messages.

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy had conservatorships over Oher from his high school years through his eight-year NFL career, and falsely claimed they had adopted him to maintain the conservatorship. A judge terminated the conservatorship last year.

Oher first spoke about his lawsuit in an article Michael Sokolove wrote for the New York Times on Sunday. The former NFL player says he resented the way the book and later the film made him seem uneducated and “stupid.”

“My reaction is hard to describe,” Oher told The New York Times, recalling the first time he saw the film. “To be honest, I thought it was kind of weird, like it was a comedy about someone else. I didn't understand it. But when social media just started growing, I saw things that made me feel stupid. Every article mentioned 'The Blind Side' like it was part of my name.”

“When my children don't know something in class, their teacher thinks: 'Their father is stupid – is that why they don't understand it?'”

“The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” Oher added.

Although he was selected 23rd in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, Oher believes the way he is portrayed in the book cost him a higher draft spot, which in turn means it cost him the higher salary that would have come with it.

Oher alleges in his lawsuit that the Tuohys exploited him by using his story to promote speaking engagements for which they earned approximately $8 million over the past 20 years.

In a separate petition filed in 2023, he claimed the Tuohys lied about his adoption status to get him to sign papers making them his guardians even after his 18th birthday.

In this petition, he also claims that the Tuohys negotiated a deal with Twentieth Century Fox that gave all four family members $225,000 each and a percentage of the profits from The big opportunity film. In another contract that Oher allegedly signed, he “apparently reveals his life story to Fox for nothing in return.” The former football player denied ever having signed such a document.

The Tuohys stated in their filings that they paid Oher about $138,000, the same amount that all four members of their family received in winnings.

Sokolove also spoke with Michael Lewis, the author of the book on which the film is based. As he has done since the Oher allegations began, he vehemently defended the Tuohys.

“You know they didn't steal his movie money, right?” Lewis said. “It all starts with that. It starts with a lie. Anything else would just make me very suspicious.”

“Do you have any idea how much money they spent on him when he was living with them? They bought him a truck. They bought him clothes. They gave him a home. There is not the slightest suspicion that the Tuohys are going to take money from Michael Oher. You need to know more about them. They are rich. And generous. They are not stingy rich. They are generous rich.”

Lewis had previously suggested that Hollywood greed and CTE may have influenced Oher's decision-making. He later retracted the CTE comments.

Oher told Sokolove that ultimately, it wasn't about the money (“I have millions of dollars. I'm fine”), but rather the feeling that his identity and his story had been taken away from him. It was emotionally draining for him, especially as he watched the Tuohys allegedly profit off his name.

“I was so angry inside for a long time,” he said. “Because of what I went through. I want to be the person I was before 'The Blind Side.' I'm still working on that.”

[The New York Times]