The 2009 film, The Blind Side, tells the story of Michael Oher’s path to becoming a famed football player, but takes a few creative liberties and excludes certain details about his life. After playing for three NFL teams, including the Baltimore Ravens, Oher is now retired. The former football player has achieved numerous milestones throughout his career, but his name is predominantly tied to the film about his life. The profit earned from Oher’s name has made The Blind Side a controversial film in recent years after he filed a lawsuit in 2023, claiming others made millions from the film, and he saw none of it.

Based on Michael Lewis’ book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, The Blind Side follows as Leigh Ann (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) provide Oher (Quinton Aaron) with a home and help him get back on his feet after a rough upbringing. For years after its release, The Blind Side had been seen as an inspirational tale based on a true story. The Tuohy family was lauded for their kind acts and Oher’s changed course in life felt like a rarity. However, just as many movies based on true stories do, The Blind Side magnifies Oher’s story for dramatic effect and removes facts from his life as a result.

10

Michael Enrolled In A Home-Study Program

He Didn’t Get Into School As Easily As In The Movie

The Blind Side shows Oher getting into Wingate Christian School with the help of a friend named Big Tony, which did happen in real life. However, it wasn’t as simple as the conversation in The Blind Side makes it out to be. Though Oher eventually got into the school — which is named Briarcrest Christian School — it wasn’t without a few stipulations.

Just as they are in the film, Oher’s grades and real-life test scores were low. Therefore, the principal at the time, Steve Simpson, said Oher could attend if he first proved himself during a home-study program, showing a satisfactory amount of growth in his IQ scores and graded work. However, Simpson realized, that due to Oher’s upbringing, he wouldn’t have an easy time getting his education back on track, and allowed him to attend Briarcrest and build up his education in the classroom.

9

Sean Tuohy Gave Michael Lunch Money

Sean Was The First From The Tuohy Family To Help Michael

The first moment Oher and the Tuohy family meet in The Blind Side is when the former is walking alone down the street. The Tuohy family invites Oher into their home and, from there, their relationship builds. However, the film leaves out Oher’s first time meeting the patriarch of the family, Sean. In reality, the two met for the first time at a basketball practice.

Tuohy had heard about Oher from his daughter, Collins, and he had noticed him around the school. During practice, Tuohy spoke to Oher and got the sense that he wasn’t eating enough at school. Tuohy then took it upon himself to open up an account at the lunch counter for Briarcrest’s new student. As a restaurateur, Tuohy had the funds to support others, even strangers, and it’s what he did quite often, according to The New York Times Magazine.

8

Football Wasn’t The First Sport Michael Played

Michael Did Track And Field And Played Basketball Before Playing Football

Part of what makes Oher’s story inspiring is the transformation he makes by turning into an achieved football player. At the start, Oher is shown in The Blind Side to be inept at sports, particularly football. Yet, the film fails to include Oher’s athletic history before he met the Tuohy family. The omitted details make sense for a drama film meant to inspire, but it diminishes the credit of Oher’s skills as an athlete.

Before working with the Tuohy family to get into the University of Mississippi, Oher had played a few different sports at Briarcrest. During his sophomore year, Oher played basketball and track and field. It wasn’t until his junior year that Oher joined the football team. Additionally, The Blind Side exaggerates Oher’s lack of football knowledge. Though he was timid in real life, he didn’t need to be taught how to play by any of the Tuohy family members as the film suggests.

7

Michael Graduated With A Criminal Justice Degree

He Continued To Succeed In The Classroom And Earned Good Grades

The ending of The Blind Side shows Oher starting his college journey. During the credits of the film, audiences are informed about where life took Oher after college. Real footage of Oher shows him getting drafted by the Baltimore Ravens at the 2009 NFL Draft and text on the screen details how Miss Sue continued to help with Oher’s education, landing him a spot on the dean’s list.

Considering The Blind Side is about Oher’s athletic and academic transformation in high school, it makes sense why details about college were excluded. Still, it’s worth mentioning that Oher’s IQ scores increased between 20 and 30 points while at Ole Miss. In addition to excelling on the football field, Oher’s academic accomplishments in college earned the star athlete a place on the school’s honor roll two times, and, in 2009, Oher graduated from Ole Miss with a criminal justice degree.

6

A Physical Confrontation Took Place At College

Michael Was Defensive Over Unfavorable Comments About His Family

Throughout The Blind Side, Oher’s instinct to protect his loved ones is referenced numerous times, mainly during the car crash scene and when Leigh Anne tells Oher to use his desire to protect his family while on the field. In real life, Oher is just as protective. During his time at Ole Miss, a fellow teammate made crude remarks about Leigh Anne and Collins, similar to those made by Oher’s neighbor in The Blind Side.

Oher did not take the comments lightly and got into a physical altercation with his teammate. According to the book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Oher overpowered his teammate in size and left him in a brutal physical state. The teammate didn’t have lasting injuries, but Oher wound up confessing to the campus police what had happened and worked ten hours of community service as a result.

5

Michael Stayed With Other Families At Briarcrest

He Was Going Back And Forth Between Multiple Homes Before The Tuohys

One of the details left out of The Blind Side is Oher’s living situation. The Blind Side dramatizes Oher’s living arrangements and makes it seem as if the Tuohys were the only family from Briarcrest to take him in. When the Tuohys invite Oher into their home, he is homeless and walking to the gym for a warm place to stay. In reality, Oher was not homeless and was instead temporarily residing with one of his teammates from Briarcrest.

Before living with the Tuohys, Oher had stayed with at least five other families. Oher eventually found a permanent home with the Tuohy family after Leigh Anne saw he was sleeping on an old air mattress at someone’s house. Seeing this, Leigh Anne drove around Memphis with Oher to collect his belongings from the various houses he had been staying at.

4

The NCAA Lost Michael’s File For Ole Miss

The Package Showcasing Michael’s Improved Grades Was Suspiciously Lost

Just as they did in The Blind Side, the NCAA had suspicions about why Oher was choosing to go to Ole Miss. It appeared the Tuohys had encouraged Oher to follow in their steps and attend the same college they did. Additionally, Oher’s grades were too low for him to play football at Ole Miss, so the Tuohys had to find a way to work with the NCAA and secure Oher’s athletic future.

Oher took one last B.Y.U. character course — a graded response to a piece of literature that was the equivalent of an entire semester of high school classes — and his complete transcript was sent to the NCAA. Unfortunately, one final obstacle came up for Oher when the organization claimed they lost his file in transit. The Tuohys were reasonably upset and Sean said he’d do whatever it took for them to process his file, even fly to the NCAA office and wait until the process was done. The NCAA eventually found it and allowed Oher to attend Ole Miss and play football.

3

Michael Didn’t Stay With The Tuohys Right Away

Leigh Anne Decided To Shop With Michael The Day After She Met Him

Though, as depicted in The Blind Side, Oher was confronted by the Tuohys while walking alone in the cold, this wasn’t when they took him in and saw him as part of the family. After their initial meeting, — which also took place in the morning and not at night as the movie shows — Leigh Anne picked Oher up from school the next day. The two then went shopping for clothes as they did in the film.

The Blind Side hints at the judgment of the community towards the Tuohys for taking Oher in, mainly when Leigh Anne is having lunch with a group of friends. In real life, Leigh Anne also had to overcome prejudiced comments from others, including those from her parents when she was growing up. In interviews about The Blind Side, Leigh Anne has talked about being raised in a racist household, but her background isn’t explored in the film.

2

Michael Had A Close Relationship With His Coach

The Tuohys Weren’t The Only Ones Who Considered Michael Part Of Their Family

With the story at the center of The Blind Side in mind, it’s obvious why the Tuohys were shown as Oher’s closest connection. However, Oher was also close with coach Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon), whose name is Hugh Freeze in real life. Oher’s time with his coach takes place mainly on the football field in the movie. Though there is a sweet moment when Oher holds Cotton back from fighting a referee in his name, there isn’t much in the film to suggest a close relationship between the two.

However, Oher spent a lot of his time with Freeze, staying one to two nights a week at his coach’s house. There, Oher was tutored by Freeze’s wife, and he grew close to the coach’s daughters, eventually seeing them as sister figures. The bond between Freeze and Oher continued after his school years when the latter flew his former coach out to see a Monday night football game between the Ravens and the Green Bay Packers (via The New York Times).

1

The Tuohys Never Adopted Michael

He Has Recently Discovered His Conservatorship

The biggest detail omitted from The Blind Side came to light about a year ago. In August 2023, Oher filed a lawsuit claiming he hadn’t seen any financial earnings from the film about his life. Any profits from The Blind Side went straight to the Tuohy parents and their children, Oher stated, and it was because he had been under a conservatorship for all of those years. Oher was unaware of the arrangement because he believed the paperwork he signed in 2004 was adoption papers.

Now, a portion of the film is based on misleading information. In The Blind Side, the Tuohys find ways to adopt Oher without many official documents to his name — a meaningful act for the fictional Oher that didn’t play out in real life. Since Oher’s lawsuit, the uplifting spirit of the film has been slightly tarnished. In response to Oher’s lawsuit, the Tuohy couple stated they never made it seem as though they were going to legally adopt him and were willing to end the conservatorship whenever Oher asked.

Sources: The New York Times, Biography, ESPN