‘The Blind Side’ is a 2009 sports movie that chronicles the teenage life of eventual NFL lineman Michael Oher, who played eight seasons before retiring in 2016. It tells a terrific tale of how a rich southern family took in a homeless, underprivileged, and oversized manchild and helped transform him into a prized student and winning athlete. Hailed as uplifting and inspirational, the film has been considered one of the best sports films of the past 20 years.
Scene from The Blind Side (2009) | Warner Bros. Pictures
Except, most of it is a lie. At least according to the man who the movie was about.
While the feel-good film was perfect for a Christmas release, it seems to have only gifted the adopted family portrayed. All throughout ‘The Blind Side’, adoptive parents Sean and Lee Ann Tuohy (portrayed tremendously by Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock – who won Best Actress for the role) are portrayed as kind, loving, religious folks who just want to help ‘Big Mike’ out. And with Oher bonding with their biological children, they adopt him into their family and provide him the life he never had.
But not so fast, as 14 years after the film was released, there has been a plot twist in the story. Oher, who once insisted that the film was not an accurate portrayal but that he enjoyed the message, has called an audible. Now, he’s letting the world know that The Tuohys were actually the ones who were blindsiding him.
Michael Oher discusses The Blind Side | The Jim Rome Show
Oher has now filed a lawsuit against his former ‘family’, claiming they duped him into thinking he was adopted, when he was actually just signing paperwork for a conservatorship. That legal document allowed the Tuohys to use his life and likeness to fabricate the story and make millions. He also says that he received nothing from them in return.
Now, Michael Oher wants his life back, sort of. He wants to publicly and legally set the record straight once and for all. And he definitely wants a cut of the film – a fantasy story that (as many long suspected) turned out too good to be true.
Even at the time of its release, the movie may have drawn rave reviews, but it was also noted for its cheesiness. And if anyone knows about being cheesy – and funny- at the same time? It’s Peyton Manning. Back in 2010, Manning famously spoofed ‘The Blind Side’ in a classic comedy clip at the ESPY Awards. As it turns out, all the jokes were more factual than fiction.
The skit features Manning in place of the film’s main subject, Ole Miss and NFL tackle Michael Oher. But in Peyton’s version, he tells the story as if Oher’s adoptive parents have kidnapped him and are holding him hostage.
As it turns out, the quarterback was accurate as usual. The way Oher is telling the story, he feels now like he was only taken into their home to be manipulated. And the fact that they guided him to their alma mater, Ole Miss, to play in college also lends a lot of credence to his allegations.
A 6’5″, 309 lb offensive lineman, Michael Oher won a Super Bowl playing for the team that drafted him, the Baltimore Ravens. He also spent seasons with the Titans and Panthers. He wrote his autobiography, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond, in 2011
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