‘The Blind Side’ Athlete Michael Oher’s Conservatorship Is Ending (2024)

1986-present

Michael Oher Now: Judge Ends Tuohy Family’s Conservatorship

On September 29, a Tennessee judge ended a conservatorship agreement between former pro football player Michael Oher and the Tuohy family, who became Oher’s guardians in high school. Oher had filed a court petition against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy in August alleging that they never formally adopted him and instead tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators less than three months before he turned 18 in 2004. This agreement gave the Tuohys control of his finances and legal authority to make business deals in his name, allowing their family to earn millions of dollars in royalties from The Blind Side, while Oher received nothing, according to the petition. The financial dispute will continue in court.

Michael Oher came from a broken home, and his estranged father was murdered while Oher was in high school. Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy allegedly became Oher’s legal guardians, and he developed into a college football star and a top NFL draft pick. This part of Oher’s life was told in Michael Lewis’ book The Blind Side and the Sandra Bullock movie of the same name. In the NFL, Oher played for the Baltimore Ravens for five seasons, helping them win the Super Bowl in 2013. He also played for the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers before retiring in 2017.

FULL NAME: Michael Jerome Oher
BORN: May 28, 1986
BIRTHPLACE: Memphis, Tennessee
SPOUSE: Tiffany Roy (2022-present)
CHILDREN: Kobi, MK, Kierstin, and Naivi
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini

Michael Oher was born Michael Jerome Williams Jr. on May 28, 1986, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was one of 12 children born to Michael Jerome Williams Sr. and Denise Oher, who provided their children with little to no support. Michael Sr. was frequently in prison, and Denise was addicted to crack cocaine. As a result, Oher was in-and-out of foster homes and frequently homeless. He also performed poorly as a student, repeating first and second grades and attending 11 different schools during his first nine years as a student.

The young boy was finally taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy when he was 16, and the Tuohys became Oher’s legal guardians when he was 17. In his junior year, Oher began to excel in football. By the beginning of his senior year, Oher was the starting left tackle on the varsity football team. He quickly became a top football prospect in the state of Tennessee, which led to multiple scholarship offers from Division 1 schools. Off the field that year, Oher’s estranged father was murdered.

Still, Oher experienced great success in 2004. A well-known high school football player, he received first team All-America honors from USA Today and was given the opportunity to play in the U.S. Army All-America Bowl. He accepted a scholarship from the University of Mississippi after receiving offers from Tennessee, Louisiana State University, Alabama, and North Carolina State, among others.

As a freshman offensive lineman at Ole Miss, Oher played 11 games and started 10 of them at the right guard position. Oher was selected first team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News and first team Freshman All-SEC for his play in 2005.

In his sophom*ore season in 2006, Oher became a breakout star in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference after a move to his more natural position at left tackle. Oher earned second team All-SEC for his performance.

Oher continued to dominate at the left tackle position in his junior year. After being selected as a consensus first team All-SEC in 2007, Oher declared for the 2008 NFL Draft. Two days later, however, he rescinded his declaration for the draft to return for his senior season at University of Mississippi.

Oher was one of the senior leaders on the University of Mississippi team that recorded its first winning record since 2003. The dominant left tackle was once again a consensus first team All-SEC, as well as a first team All-America selection by The Associated Press.

In the 2009 NFL Draft, Oher was selected 23^rd overall by the Baltimore Ravens. He started all 16 games for the Ravens and helped the team reach the playoffs in his first season with the team.

During the 2012-13 season, Oher helped take the Ravens all the way to Super Bowl XLVII. Held in New Orleans, the Super Bowl pitted the Baltimore Ravens against the San Francisco 49ers. Oher and his teammates emerged victorious in the championship in a tight game, scoring 34 points to the 49ers’ 31 points. After his impressive win, Oher told ABC News, “I came so far—from nothing to a Super Bowl championship. I’m in shock right now.”

A free agent following the 2014 season when he played for the Tennessee Titans, Oher joined the Carolina Panthers after being recruited by the team’s quarterback Cam Newton. Oher’s strong performance in 2015 helped Newton win the MVP award and served as a major cog in the team’s run to a berth in Super Bowl 50. He was released from the Panthers in 2017, marking the end of his NFL career.

In 2006, as Oher was in his sophom*ore year at Ole Miss, author Michael Lewis released a book titled The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which detailed Oher’s life from foster child to college football star. The book was later turned into a 2009 movie—starring Quinton Aaron as Oher, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, and Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy—that was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.

Oher has been critical of the movie, particularly for how it portrayed him as lacking football knowledge and how it colored other people’s perception of his pro career. In 2015 as his NFL career wound down, Oher said, “This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not... that has nothing to do with football. It’s something else off the field. That’s why I don’t like that movie.”

In August 2023, Oher filed a court petition in Tennessee alleging that the Tuohys never formally adopted him and instead tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators in 2004. This agreement, which Oher claims to have learned about in February 2023, gave the Tuohys authority over his legal, medical, and educational affairs and allowed their family to earn millions of dollars in royalties from The Blind Side, while Oher received nothing, according to the petition.

Oher’s petition asked for the conservatorship to be dissolved, for an injunction to be filed preventing the Tuohys from profiting from Oher’s name, and for Oher to be awarded compensatory and punitive damages.

“We’re devastated,” Sean Tuohy told The Daily Memphian. “It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.” According to Sean, the only money the family received from the movie was from The Blind Side author Michael Lewis’ share. It amounted to roughly $14,000 each for himself, his wife, their two biological children, and Oher.

As for the conservatorship, Sean said Oher needed to be legally part of the Tuohy family in order for the NCAA to allow him to play football at University of Mississippi. Both Sean and Leigh Anne had graduated from Ole Miss, and Sean was an “active supporter” of the school, which raised concerns for the NCAA. Lawyers told the couple they couldn’t adopt someone over the age of 18, so they pursued a conservatorship instead. Sean said he and Leigh Anne would agree to end the conservatorship if that’s what Oher wants.

On September 29, Tennessee Judge Kathleen Gomes announced she was terminating the conservatorship agreement and instructed the Tuohys to share financial records regarding any money that might have come from it. Gomes said she was deeply disturbed by the agreement, claiming she had never seen such a conservatorship arrangement with someone who wasn’t disabled. “I cannot believe it got done,” she said.

Oher married his long-time partner, Tiffany Roy, in November 2022. The two met in college and had been together for 17 years before their marriage. They have two sons together named Kobi and MJ and two daughters named Kierstin and Naivi.

• It’s true that we can’t help the circ*mstances we’re born into and some of us start out in a much tougher place than other people. But just because we started there doesn’t mean we have to end there.
• I would have dreams all the time about me playing in the NFL. Every day I woke up, I said to myself... I’m going to work hard... to get to that next level.
• I came so far—from nothing to a Super Bowl championship.
• Believe me, I still think, “Wow! This is crazy!” every time I check my bank statement.
• I always felt that I was... smart. I just didn’t have a lot of the resources that everybody else had... It was tough for me to catch up.
• It was unbelievable just to... walk across the stage and shake the principal’s hand. I was the first one... out of anybody that I ever knew to... graduate. It was... a great experience.
• I just love football. Football is what got me here. That’s the reason I’m here. Everything else is second.
• I understand there are a lot of people I’ve inspired across the world. I’m trying to embrace that a lot better than I have in the past.
• Life is always about maturing and becoming a better version of yourself. Even after you’ve beaten the odds, there is still room to grow.
• I’m tired of the movie [The Blind Side]. Football is what got me here, and the movie, it wasn’t me.

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