Award winning motion picture “The Blind Side” has found itself back in the news nearly a decade after its release as star of the movie and former NFL player Michael Oher has claimed that he received no payout from the profit of the film.
Hugh Freeze, head coach of the Auburn Tigers, was once tasked with recruiting Oher to the Ole Miss Rebels. In a press conference, Freeze addressed the rumors and hate that have swirled around the Tuohy family, who took Oher in but who Oher alleges profited off of his name by tricking into signing conservatorship documents while he believed they were adoption papers.
Freeze gave his take on the situation, offering his perspective on what he gathered about the dynamic between the family and Oher in his time recruiting the star offensive lineman. “I love Michael Oher. He’s like part of our family. I love the Tuohys. I think it’s sad, and I certainly don’t claim to understand all the ins and outs of adoption, conservatory, all of that. But I know what I witnessed, and I witnessed a family that totally took in a young man. And I think without that, there is no story.”
Freeze continued piling on praise to the Tuohy family while also staying neutral, given his love and respect for Oher. He explained, however, that without all of the details, it’s hard for him to place any blame on the family that went above and beyond to help a young man in need.
Freeze said, “I think it will all…whatever happens will happen, of course,” Freeze continued. “The facts will come out. But, you know, I love both sides of it. Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy did something that most families… A lot of us talk about doing things, but they actually put the shoes on and pulled the boots up and got in the arena and did something. I think that’s admirable.”
Oher claims that the Tuohy family tricked him into signing legal documents that gave the family conservatorship over his future earnings on the film. He claims that the family got him to sign those papers under the guise of calling them adoption document. According to Breitbart News, the family tricked him into entering a deal that is usually only reserved for those with mental health problems.
According to Oher’s attorney in court documents, the family has “failed to file the first accounting and have failed to timely file a single accounting for the last 19 years.” If true, this is a sad end to the story that captured the hearts of Americans after the initial release of “The Blindside” starring Sandra Bullock.
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Regardless of ourtocme, a bitter taste has been left in the mouths of many who once saw the Michael Oher story as one of complete love and devotion to helping others.