Michael Oher, the former football player whose story was told in Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side, says he was tricked by the family that supposedly adopted him, ESPN reports.
Oher, a Tennessee native, was an offensive lineman for Briarcrest Christian School before playing for the University of Mississippi. He later played for the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and Carolina Panthers. He is the author of two books, both co-written with Don Yaeger: I Beat the Odds, published in 2012, and When Your Back’s Against the Wall, published last week.
His beginning football career was profiled in Lewis’ 2006 book, which was the basis for a hit 2009 film directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, and Tim McGraw. The film depicted how a married couple, Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy, purportedly adopted Oher, saving him from poverty.
In a petition filed with a Tennessee court, Oher claims that the Tuohys never actually adopted him but got him to sign papers that entered him into a conservatorship. Oher claims that the family then enriched themselves at his expense, earning significant amounts of money from the Blind Side film while he received no money from the movie.
Oher’s petition seeks financial compensation from the Tuohys as well as an end to the conservatorship.
CBS News reports that the Tuohys say they didn’t earn much money from the film and that they are “devastated” by Oher’s claims.
“It's upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children," Sean Tuohy said. "But we're going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16."
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
