Michael Oher, the former NFL tackle whose life inspired the Oscar-nominated flick “The Blind Side,” has long tried to distance himself from the movie that catapulted him to fame, insisting the Hollywood blockbuster was only a burden on his football career.
Ever since the hit 2009 film starring Sandra Bullock was released, Oher has been adamant that he wasn’t a fan of it and would prefer to leave the fame he garnered from the film in the past.
But Oher and the movie were thrown back into the spotlight Monday when the now-37-year-old filed a petition in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators, rather than his adoptive parents, nearly two decades ago.
In the petition, Oher — who is now a married father-of-four — is seeking to have the conservatorship terminated and asked for a full accounting of the money earned off the use of his name and story.
So what exactly has Oher’s life looked like since “The Blind Side,” which earned $300 million at the box office, hit cinemas in 2009?
Michael Oher, the former NFL tackle whose life inspired “The Blind Side,” has previously tried to distance himself from the Oscar-nominated movie that catapulted him to fame. AP
Oher, who was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Mississippi, wound up playing eight NFL seasons and started 110 career games.
He spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, including for a Super Bowl win in 2013.
After being released by the Ravens, Oher signed a four-year, $20 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. He was released after playing just 11 games because of a toe injury.
He then signed a two-year, $7 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. He last played in the NFL back in 2016 before being released by Carolina in 2017.
In a 2015 ESPN interview, Oher claimed “The Blind Side” — based on his life as an underprivileged youth growing up in Memphis, Tenn., and the white family who took him in — had been nothing but a negative for his career on the field.
“I’m not trying to prove anything,” Oher said. “People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie. They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That’s why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.
Oher, who wound up playing eight NFL seasons, last saw action on the field back in 2016 during his two-year stint with the Carolina Panthers. Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“Offensive linemen don’t get looked at,” Oher continued. “Nobody is paying attention to the offensive line. But me? I’m getting watched for everything.”
Oher would dodge questions about the film during his playing career but revealed in a 2015 interview that he accepted what he described as an exaggerated Hollywood story line by focusing on the positive impact the film had on people.
“You’d be surprised how many letters I’ve gotten, people have adopted kids or how many lives have changed,” Oher said in the interview with The Associated Press.
“I’m definitely excited about that because coming from poverty in the inner city where I come from, so many people look up to me. They say if I can do it, they can do it. So I’m definitely happy about that and proud about that part of it.”
In his personal life, Oher went on to score a different type of touchdown in November when he tied the knot with his college sweetheart, Tiffany Roy, in Nashville.
The couple, who had been dating 17 years after meeting at the University of Mississippi, share four children: sons Kobi and MJ and daughters Kierstin and Naivi.
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