Ex-NFL star Michael Oher says ‘Blind Side’ family made millions by lying about adoption
UPDATE: Sean Tuohy, husband of Leigh Anne Tuohy, told The Daily Memphian on Aug. 15 that his family was “devastated” by the petition Oher filed against him and his wife and said the Tuohys would dissolve the conservatorship if Oher wants.
Tuohy explained that the family had a conservatorship “to appease the NCAA when it appeared Oher might play football at Ole Miss,” Tuoy’s alma mater, the Memphian reported.
“It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children,” he told the news outlet. “But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”
The original story is below:
Former NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher, whose life played out on screen in the 2009 Academy Award-nominated drama “The Blind Side,” is accusing the family who took him in of lying in order to profit off the film and his famous backstory.
In a 14-page petition filed in Tennessee, Oher claims that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never adopted him as claimed in the movie based on the book, and instead tricked him into becoming his conservators after he turned 18 in 2004.
They then used the power that came with the title to be paid millions off the film while Oher received nothing, the petition says.
Conservatorship means the Tuohys had “legal authority to make business deals in his name,” ESPN reported in breaking the story.
The document also says that the Tuohys two birth children, Collins and Sean Jr., also received millions of dollars in royalties.
In the film, Leigh Anne Tuohy is seen having a conversation with Oher’s mother about adopting him after going to his neighborhood to seek her out. The film led audiences to believe that the family formally adopted him after taking him under their wing.
The document states the family invited him to live with them before his senior year of high school and “at no time prior to this invitation during Michael’s minority did the Tuohys take any legal action to assume custody of Michael from DHS through appropriate channels, nor did they seek to become Michael’s guardian while he was a minor.”
“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher,” the document says. “Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”
In a 2015 interview with ESPN, Oher explained the story told in “The Blind Side” cast a negative shadow on his professional football career. The famous movie shows Oher’s background before and after he was supposedly drafted by the Tuohys, played by Sandra Bullock, who won an Oscar for her portrayal, and Tim McGraw.
“People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie,” he said. “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.
“This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not ... that has nothing to do with football. It’s something else off the field. That’s why I don’t like that movie.’‘
According to Oher in his book, “I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond,” the former football prodigy was vastly different from the character depicted in the film, played by Quinton Aaron, who was portrayed as quiet, introverted and with a low football IQ before meeting the Tuohys.
“I felt like it portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it,” Oher said in his memoir, NPR reported.
“Quinton Aaron did a great job acting the part, but I could not figure out why the director chose to show me as someone who had to be taught the game of football. Whether it was S.J. moving around ketchup bottles or Leigh Anne explaining to me what blocking is about, I watched those scenes thinking, ‘No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying — really studying — the game since I was a kid!’ That was my main hang-up with the film.”
Oher played football for the University of Mississippi and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He also went on to play for the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.
During his Ole Miss career, Oher became a first-team freshman All-American and holds various preseason All-Conference and All-American teams.
He was also named a second-team SEC offensive lineman after his sophomore season. He was also recognized as a unanimous All-American and graduated from college with a degree in criminal justice. He is also among the 78 former players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision to be included in the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame.
This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 1:36 PM.