The Baltimore Ravens have had a number of legendary players play for their franchise. Most of whom are known for what they did on the field, but a few have been known for what they accomplished off the field as well.
Michael Oher is one of those players who not only accomplished a lot on the football field, but what he went through to even get to the NFL in the first place. If you are familiar with the movie “The Blind Side” you may have an idea. However, Oher just opened up another can of worms when it comes to how his life has been ever since he was adopted.
Former Baltimore Ravens OL Michael Oher Had A Lot To Say About Family Who Adopted Him In Recent Interview
According to Carson Blackwelder of ABC News:
Michael Oher is speaking out on his lawsuit against the Tuohy family, the family who took him in as a teenager, as depicted in the 2009 film “The Blind Side.”
“The first time I heard ‘I love you,’ it was Sean and Leigh Anne saying it,” Oher told The New York Times Magazine. “When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable. You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you. It turns into a hurt feeling.”
“I don’t want to make this about race, but what I found out was that nobody says ‘I love you’ more than coaches and white people,” he added. “When Black people say it, they mean it.”
The former NFL player and Super Bowl champ alleges in the lawsuit, which was filed in August 2023, that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy took advantage of him, depriving him of millions while profiting off his life story.
Oher claims in the lawsuit he thought he was signing adoption papers with the family, only to learn years later he’d consented to a conservatorship, giving the Tuohys control over his finances — a stark contrast to the adoption narrative depicted in the 2006 book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” and the Oscar-nominated film based on it.
Oher also claimed in the NYT Magazine profile that the portrayal of him as “stupid” in the book cost him a higher draft position when signing with the Baltimore Ravens — and by extension, the increases that go with it.
“The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” he said.
After initially refusing to see the film, he claims he eventually saw it with the Ravens’ team chaplain and two teammates, saying it was “hard to describe my reaction” to seeing it.
“It seemed kind of funny to me, to tell you the truth, like it was a comedy about someone else. It didn’t register,” he said. “But social media was just starting to grow, and I started seeing stuff that I’m dumb. I’m stupid. Every article about me mentioned ‘The Blind Side,’ like it was part of my name.”
He said he now worries his children will be impacted by his depiction in the book and in the movie.
Actor Quinton Aaron portrayed Oher in the film. Oher said he was portrayed as someone who was passive, barely spoke and had football explained to him by a child.
“If my kids can’t do something in class, will their teacher think, ‘Their dad is dumb — is that why they’re not getting it?'”
Below is a statement from Oher’s 14-page petition that was filed in 2023:
“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 legal filing 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.”
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