As a homeless boy, Michael Oher had nowhere to call home, what happened next became the turning point that changed his life and led him to the NFL
He struggled in school and attended 11 schools in his first nine years. His biggest team achievement came during the 2012 season. Baltimore defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31, giving Oher the championship that had once seemed almost impossible to imagine. Michael Lewis’ 2006 book The Blind Side : Evolution of a Game told his story, and the 2009 movie The Blind Side turned it into a worldwide Hollywood story.
Michael Oher’s life changed from one of the hardest childhoods imaginable to an NFL career and a Super Bowl title. Born in Memphis, Oher spent much of his childhood moving between foster homes and periods of homelessness. Then football gave him a chance to change his path, eventually taking him to Ole Miss, the NFL and a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens. Oher started at left tackle for the Ravens as they reached Super Bowl XLVII. He later played for the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers before ending his eight-year NFL career. But Oher’s story became known far beyond football.
The Baltimore Ravens selected Oher with the 23rd pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
He later said the movie did not show the full person behind the football player and felt that it made him appear less knowledgeable and less in control of his own story than he really was. He chose the University of Mississippi, where he became a standout offensive tackle. Oher earned first-team All-American honors as a senior and turned himself into a player NFL teams could not ignore. He stepped into the league after years of uncertainty and quickly became a regular starter on the offensive line. The film brought Oher even more attention, but it also became a complicated part of his life.