Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesSean Tuohy denied he and his family intended to profit from their conservatorship of former NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher, which is the subject of a new lawsuit filed by Oher.
"We're devastated," Tuohy said to the Daily Memphian's Geoff Calkins. "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."
Michael Lewis profiled Oher and the Tuohy family in his book The Blind Side, which was adapted into a feature film. Tuohy told Calkins the family "didn't make any money off the movie" aside from a flat payment of $14,000.
ESPN's Michael A. Fletcher reported Monday that Oher filed a petition in Tennessee arguing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy "tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name."
Oher had been under the impression the Tuohy family legally adopted him rather than becoming his conservators.
Fletcher shared a portion of the filing that centered on the conservatorship:
"The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher. Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys."Tuohy said he and his wife pursued the conservatorship in order for Oher to avoid running afoul of any NCAA regulations as he pursued a college career.
"They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family," he told Calkins. "I sat Michael down and told him, 'If you're planning to go to Ole Miss—or even considering Ole Miss—we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.'"
Tuohy said the lawyers he spoke with told him Oher couldn't be legally adopted because he was over 18 years old, so a conservatorship was the only path available. Calkins pointed out that Tennessee state law does permit an "adult adoption" in cases where the adoptee is 18 or older.
Per Fletcher, Oher argued in his petition that the Tuohys netted significant royalty money from The Blind Side film, while he received no such payout thanks in part to the conservatorship.
Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Leigh Anne in The Blind Side, and the film was nominated for Best Picture.
Oher himself expressed in his memoir how he thought The Blind Side "portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it." He thought the extent to which he needed to learn the game of football was exaggerated as well.
The 37-year-old had a decorated college career at Ole Miss, earning first-team All-SEC honors in 2007 and 2008 and becoming a unanimous All-American as a senior. A first-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft, he spent eight years in the league.
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