The 2009 release of “The Blind Side” may have been a box office hit, but the author of the Sandra Bullock-starring film and its book say it negatively affected his NFL career and caused teams to doubt his intelligence.
Michael Oher is First long interview with The New York Times Magazine The lawsuit was filed against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the couple who adopted and raised Oher as a teenager and who served as the inspiration for the book and film.
Oher told the Times that the book and film influenced his draft pick and how teams viewed his intelligence.
“People in the NFL wondered if I could read the playbook,” Oher said in an interview.
Oher initially did not see the film when it was released, but the Ravens’ team chaplain eventually convinced him to watch it.
Oher wasn’t sure how to react when he saw it, and seemed unconcerned about how he was being portrayed, but he soon realized that a perception of him on social media was beginning to take shape.
“It’s hard to explain my reaction,” Oher told the Times. “Honestly, it just seemed weird to me. It was like a comedy skit about somebody else. It didn’t click with me. But then social media started to grow, and I started seeing stuff that said I was stupid. I was stupid. Every article about me said ‘The Blind Side,’ like it was part of my name.”
He added: “If my kids can’t do something in class, will the teacher think, ‘Maybe my kids don’t understand because their dad’s an idiot’?”
A rift has developed between Oher and his family, with Oher claiming that they tricked him into signing over a guardianship when they claimed they would adopt him.
A judge ended the conservatorship in September.
Oher’s lawsuit alleges that the Tooheys defrauded him out of millions of dollars.
Speaking to The Times, Oher said the first time someone told him “I love you” was while he was with the Tooheys.
“The first time I heard ‘I love you’ was when Sean and Leigh Anne said it,” he says. “When something like that happens at 18, it makes you vulnerable. You let your guard down and it takes everything away from you. And that translates to hurt feelings.”
Martin Singer, an entertainment lawyer who serves as a spokesman for the Tuohys, denied Oher’s allegations about the couple in a statement after the lawsuit was filed.
“Anyone with common sense would know that the outlandish allegations Michael Oher has made about the Tooheys are hurtful and absurd,” the paper said. “The idea that the Tooheys sought to profit from Mr Oher is not only repulsive, but patently absurd.”
