Michael Oher was the real life inspiration for the 2009 football film “The Blind Side.”
The feel-good movie told the story of how a rich white woman — played by Sandra Bullock — took in a homeless black teenager in Memphis, and persuaded him to play high school football. He was talented, and went to become an All-American left tackle in college and a first-round draft pick (23rd overall) by the Ravens in 2009.
Bullock won an Oscar for the film, but the Carolina Panthers tackle said it ruined his career.
“I’m not trying to prove anything,” Oher told ESPN. “People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie. They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am.”
“That’s why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
“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.”
Oher’s past two seasons in the NFL haven’t been great.
The Ravens didn’t re-sign him after 2013, and a five year contract he signed with the Tennessee Titans was cut short. He was picked up by the Panthers this year.