Michael Oher Biography
Michael Oher, the subject of Michael Lewis’ book The Blind Side and its 2009 film adaptation, was a former professional football player who won the Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens.
Michael Oher Profile
- Full Name: Michael Jerome Oher
- Date of Birth: May 28, 1986
- Age: 37 years old
- Gender: Male
- Place of Birth: Memphis, Tennessee, United States
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Former American football player
- Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
- Parents: Denise Oher (mother), Michael Jerome Williams (father)
- Siblings: 11 siblings
- Relationship Status: Married
- Spouse: Tiffany Roy
- Children: 4
- Net Worth: $13 million
Michael Oher Early Life & Education
The 37-year-old Michael Oher was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 28, 1986. Due to his mother Denise Oher’s alcoholism and crack cocaine use, he had a difficult upbringing.
Michael Jerome Williams, his father, was a frequent prisoner. Oher had a difficult upbringing and was not given much guidance or discipline.
Oher was unstable in his early years; he attended several schools and repeated the first and second grades.
He was placed in foster care when he was seven years old, spending time both in and out of foster homes. Sadly, Oher’s father was killed in prison while he was a senior in high school.
Oher’s life changed course when he realized how much he loved football. He was drawn to Tony Henderson, an auto technician, while he was enrolled in a Memphis public high school. Henderson advised him to apply to Briarcrest Christian School. Oher overcame academic obstacles to improve his grades and earn a criminal justice degree upon graduating from high school. After that, he enrolled at Ole Miss, the University of Mississippi.
Michael Oher Now: Judge Ends Tuohy Family’s Conservatorship
A Tennessee judge terminated the conservatorship between Michael Oher, a former professional football player, and the Tuohy family, who had taken on the role of Oher’s guardians during his high school years, on September 29. Less than three months before he turned eighteen in 2004, Oher had filed a court petition against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, claiming that they had duped him into signing a paper designating them as his conservators rather than ever having properly adopted him. According to the petition, Oher earned no money from this arrangement, which gave the Tuohys control over their finances and the legal right to conduct business in his name. As a result, their family was able to profit millions of dollars from The Blind Side royalties. The legal battle over the money will go on.
Childhood Hardships and a Turning Point
On May 28, 1986, Michael Jerome Williams Jr. was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and became Michael Oher. Michael Jerome Williams Sr. and Denise Oher, who gave their kids little to no support, were the parents of 12 children, including him. Denise had a crack cocaine addiction, and Michael Sr. was often incarcerated. Others were consequently often homeless and in and out of foster homes. In his first nine years of schooling, he attended eleven different schools and repeated the first and second grades due to his low academic performance.
At the age of seventeen, Oher’s legal guardians were Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who had eventually taken in the little lad when he was sixteen. Oher started to shine in football during his junior year. Oher was the varsity football team’s starting left tackle at the start of his senior year. He soon rose to prominence as Tennessee’s top football prospect, earning many scholarship offers from Division 1 universities. That year, Oher’s father—who was alienated from him—was killed off the field.
Nevertheless, Oher had a very successful 2004. A well-known high school football star, he was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-America Bowl and was named to USA Today’s first-team All-America. After obtaining scholarship offers from several universities, including Tennessee, Louisiana State University, Alabama, and North Carolina State, he decided to accept one from the University of Mississippi.
College Football Career
Oher played in 11 games as a freshman offensive lineman for Ole Miss, starting ten of them at right guard. Oher’s play in 2005 earned him selections to The Sporting News’ first-team Freshman All-America and first-team Freshman All-SEC.
Moving to his more natural position at left tackle in his second season of 2006, Oher emerged as a breakout star in the fiercely competitive Southeastern Conference. Oher’s play earned him a spot on the second team of the SEC.
Oher had another outstanding season as a left tackle in his junior year. The consensus first-team All-SEC selection in 2007, Oher announced his intention to enter the 2008 NFL Draft. He withdrew his declaration for the draft, though, two days later to play his final season at the University of Mississippi.
Among the team’s senior leaders, Oher helped the University of Mississippi achieve its first winning season since 2003. Once more, the commanding left tackle was chosen by the coaches for the first team All-SEC and by The Associated Press for the first team All-America.
NFL Career
The Baltimore Ravens selected Oher with the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he started all 16 games for the Ravens and contributed to the team’s postseason success.
Oher played an important role in leading the Ravens to Super Bowl XLVII in the 2012–13 season. The Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers faced off in the Super Bowl, which was hosted in New Orleans. In a close game, Oher and his teammates prevailed in the final, scoring 34 points to the 49ers’ 31. Oher said to ABC News following his thrilling victory, “I came so far—from nothing to a Super Bowl championship.” Right now, I’m stunned.
After playing with the Tennessee Titans in 2014, Oher was a free agency. Cam Newton, the team’s quarterback, recruited him to the Carolina Panthers. Oher was a key component of the club that made it to Super Bowl 50 in 2015 and contributed significantly to Newton’s MVP victory. His NFL career came to an end in 2017 when he was released by the Panthers.
The Blind Side
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, written by Michael Lewis, was published in 2006 when Oher was a sophomore at Ole Miss. It described Oher’s journey from foster child to collegiate football standout. Later, the book was made into a 2009 film that was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and starred Quinton Aaron as Oher, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, and Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy.
Oher has taken issue with the film, especially with the way it depicted him as ignorant about football and how it affected how other people saw his professional career. “This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not… that has nothing to do with football,” Oher stated in 2015, as his NFL career was coming to an end. It has to do with something off the field. I don’t enjoy that movie because of this.
2023 Conservatorship Lawsuit Involving the Tuohys
Oher filed a court case in Tennessee in August 2023, claiming that the Tuohys had conned him into signing a 2004 paper designating them as his conservators rather than ever having properly adopted him. Oher’s petition states that he was not informed of this agreement, which he discovered in February 2023, and that it granted the Tuohys control over his legal, medical, and educational matters in addition to enabling their family to obtain millions of dollars in royalties from The Blind Side.
In his petition, Oher requested the dissolution of the conservatorship, the filing of an injunction to stop the Tuohys from making money off of Oher’s name, and the payment of compensatory and punitive damages.
Sean Tuohy told The Daily Memphian, “We’re devastated.” The idea that we could profit financially from any of our kids disturbs us. However, our affection for Michael will not change even at 37—it began at age 16. Sean claims that the only money the family got from the film was Michael Lewis’s portion, the author of The Blind Side. That was about $14,000 for him, his spouse, their two biological kids, and Oher.
Regarding the conservatorship, Sean stated that Oher had to be a legitimate member of the Tuohy family for the NCAA to permit him to participate in University of Mississippi football. Ole Miss was the alma mater of both Sean and Leigh Anne, and Sean was an “active supporter” of the university, which alarmed the NCAA. The couple sought a conservatorship when their attorneys informed them that they were not allowed to adopt a child who was older than 18. If Oher requests it, Sean indicated he and Leigh Anne would consent to end the conservatorship.
Judge Kathleen Gomes of Tennessee declared on September 29 that she was ending the conservatorship agreement and gave the Tuohys instructions to share any financial information about any potential proceeds from it. Gomes claimed to have never seen a conservatorship arrangement of this kind with a person who wasn’t disabled, and she expressed her profound discomfort with the agreement. She remarked, “I can’t believe it got done.”
Michael Oher’s Personal Life
After meeting Roy for the first time at the University of Mississippi, Oher started dating her. Together, they would go on to have four children: two sons and two daughters. In Nashville, Tennessee, on November 5, 2022, the couple tied the knot after becoming engaged on July 21, 2021. The pair had been dating for seventeen years when they were married.
Legal claims against the Tuohy family
Oher filed a lawsuit in August 2023, claiming that Leigh Ann and Sean Tuohy had never really adopted him but had instead established a conservatorship, giving them the legal right to conduct business under his name. He said that the Tuohys made an arrangement that gave them and their two kids millions of dollars in royalties from the film The Blind Side, while Oher received nothing, by using their position as conservators.
In his lawsuit, Oher requested that the conservatorship over the Tuohys be terminated and that they be prohibited from utilizing his name or likeness going forward. In addition, it demanded that Oher receive his portion of the profits, a complete accounting of all the money the Tuohys made using his name, and additional compensatory and punitive damages.
Michael Oher’s Wife and Children
In November 2022, Oher tied the knot with Tiffany Roy, his lifelong companion. Before getting married, the couple spent 17 years together after meeting in college. Together, they are parents to two sons, Kobi and MJ, and two daughters, Kierstin and Naivi.
Michael Oher’s Net Worth
It is believed that Michael Oher is worth $13 million.
Oher’s lucrative earnings have come from his lucrative football career as well as some sponsorship deals.
Michael Oher College Awards and honors
- 2005 First-team Freshman All-American
- 2005 First-team All-Quad Freshman Chrome [AQFC] Tackle Letius
- 2005 First-team SEC All-Freshman
- 2006 Second-team All-SEC
- 2007 First-team All-SEC
- 2008 First-team All-American
- 2008 First-team All-SEC
- 2008 Shug Jordan Award as the Southeast Offensive Lineman of the Year
- 2008 Colonel Earl “Red” Blaik Leadership-Scholarship Award
- 2008 Outland Trophy finalist
- 2008 Conerly Trophy finalist
- 2008 Lombardi Award semifinalist
- 2008 SECÂ Jacobs Blocking Trophy
Michael Oher Social Media
- Instagram: @michaeloher
- Twitter: @MichaelOher
@bleacherreport Truly blindsided by this 😳 #blindside #blindsided #nfl #nflfootball #football #michaeloher
Michael Oher Filmography
- The Blind Side
Quotes
We indeed have little control over the situations we are born into, and some of us have it far worse than others from the beginning. However, that doesn’t mean we have to stop there since that’s where we started.
I used to always dream of being an NFL player. I vowed to myself every morning when I got up to work hard and advance to the next level.
From nothing to a Super Bowl championship, I’ve come a long way.
I still say to myself, “Wow! I exclaim, “This is crazy,” each time I look at my bank statement.
I’ve always believed that I’m intelligent. Simply put, I lacked many of the resources that others possessed. I had a hard time catching up.
Just to cross the platform and shake the principal’s hand was incredible. Among all the people I had ever known, I was the first to graduate. It was a wonderful experience.
I adore football, that’s all. It’s football that brought me here. I’m here for that reason. Everything else comes second.
I am aware that I have influenced many people all around the world. I’m making a lot more effort than I have in the past to accept it.
Being a better version of yourself and growing up is the constant goal of life. Even when you’ve overcome the obstacles, you can still improve.
The movie [The Blind Side] is getting old to me. It wasn’t the movie that brought me here; it was football.
Who Is Michael Oher?
Michael Oher grew up in a dysfunctional household and experienced the murder of his father while he was a high school student. Oher reportedly had legal guardians in Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and went on to become a standout college football player and first-round selection in the NFL draft. The Blind Side by Michael Lewis and the eponymous Sandra Bullock film both recount this aspect of Oher’s life. Oher spent five seasons as a player in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, where he contributed to their 2013 Super Bowl victory. Before retiring in 2017, he also played for the Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans.
What happened with Michael Oher?
In a lawsuit filed in a Tennessee court last month, Oher—whose life story was included in the Oscar-winning film “The Blind Side”—said the Tuohys had informed him they intended to adopt him, but they had instead established a conservatorship that withheld millions of dollars from him.
Was Michael Oher African American?
Michael Oher was portrayed as a Black child saved by adoptive White parents in a popular book and film. That’s not the whole story, according to Oher. This image of Michael Oher was taken on October 24, 2010, during an NFL football game in Baltimore between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills.
What happened to Michael Oher’s father?
Michael Oher grew up in a dysfunctional household and experienced the murder of his father while he was a high school student. Oher reportedly had legal guardians in Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and went on to become a standout college football player and first-round selection in the NFL draft.
Did the Tuohy family adopt Michael?
Leigh and Sean In a new court document on Thursday, Anne Tuohy retaliated against former NFL player Michael Oher, claiming they never planned to adopt him and that they never intended to profit financially from his name. When Oher, now 37, was a high school student, the Tuohys took him in.
Why did the Tuohys not adopt Michael?
Oher said that on April 14, the Tuohys had “falsely advised” him that since he was already 18, “the legal action to adopt him would have to be called a conservatorship, but it was, for all intents and purposes, an adoption.” Oher says he was unaware that the conservatorship compelled him to turn himself in to
Does Michael Oher still have a relationship with the Tuohy family?
“Their relationship continued to deteriorate as he learned that he was the only member of the family not receiving royalty checks from the movie, and it was permanently fractured when he realized he wasn’t adopted and a part of the family.” In November 2022, Oher wed Tiffany Roy.
