Michael Oher

Michael Jerome Oher (born May 28, 1986) is an American football offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Mississippi for the Ole Miss Rebels. His life through his final year of high school and first year of college is one of the subjects of Michael Lewis's 2006 book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game and the subject of the 2009 film The Blind Side.

Early life
Born Michael Jerome Williams, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, he was one of twelve children to Denise Oher. His mother was an alcoholic and crack cocaine addict, and his father, Michael Jerome Williams, was frequently in prison. Due to his upbringing, he received little attention and discipline during his childhood. He repeated both first and second grades, and attended eleven different schools during his first nine years as a student. He was placed in foster care at age seven, and alternated between living in various foster homes and periods of homelessness. Oher's biological father was a former cell mate of Denise Oher's brother and was murdered in prison when Oher was a senior in high school.

Oher played football during his freshman year at a public high school in Memphis and applied for admission to Briarcrest Christian School at the instigation of acquaintance Tony Henderson, with whom he was living temporarily. Henderson was enrolling his son to the school in order to fulfill the dying wish of the boy's grandmother, and thought Oher might enroll as well. The school's football coach submitted Oher's school application to the headmaster, who agreed to accept him if Oher could complete a home study program first. Despite not finishing the program, he was admitted when the headmaster realized that his requirement had removed Oher from the public education system.

After the 2003 football season at Briarcrest, he was named Division II (2A) Lineman of the Year in 2003 and First Team Tennessee All-State. Scout.com rated Oher a five-star recruit and the #5 offensive lineman prospect in the country. Before that season and for his prior twenty months at Briarcrest, Oher had been living with several foster families. In 2004, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, a couple with a daughter and son attending Briarcrest, allowed Oher to live with them and eventually adopted him. The family began tending to his needs after becoming familiar with his difficult childhood. They also hired a tutor for him, who worked with him for twenty hours per week.

Oher also earned two letters in track and basketball. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds a game, earning All-State honors by helping lead the basketball team to a 27-6 record, winning the district championship as a senior. Oher was also a state runner-up in the discus as a senior.

Oher eventually increased his 0.6 grade point average to a 2.52 GPA by the end of his senior year so he could attend a Div. I school by enrolling in some 10-day-long Internet-based courses from Brigham Young University. Taking and passing the internet courses allowed him to replace Ds and Fs earned in earlier school classes, such as English, with As earned via the Internet. This finally raised his graduating GPA over the required limit.

College career
Though he received scholarship offers from the University of Tennessee, Louisiana State University, the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of South Carolina, Oher ultimately decided to play for Coach Ed Orgeron at the University of Mississippi, alma mater of his guardians Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy. The decision sparked an investigation by the NCAA. The first issue was that Oher's grade-point average (GPA) was still too low to meet the requirements for a Division I scholarship at the time of the offer from Ole Miss. That difficulty was corrected by graduation, when Oher completed online classes through Brigham Young University.

The second issue was the Tuohys' preexisting relationship with the school and the fact that Oher's high school coach, Hugh Freeze, was employed by Ole Miss twenty days after Oher signed his letter of intent. Freeze asserted that his position with Ole Miss was not an example of quid pro quo for encouraging Oher to attend the school, but rather the result of a preexisting relationship of his with Ole Miss offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. The NCAA did not close its case on its suspicions of collusion. However, it ruled that Ole Miss had committed no NCAA violations in its recruitment of Oher. Freeze was found guilty of secondary violations for contacting other Memphis-area recruits before joining the Ole Miss staff.

Oher started in ten games as a guard during his first season with the Ole Miss Rebels, becoming a first-team freshman All American. After shifting to the position of left tackle for the 2006 season, he was named to various preseason All-Conference and All-American teams. Oher was named a second-team Southeastern Conference (SEC) offensive lineman after his sophomore season and a first-team SEC offensive lineman after his junior season. Oher was also successful academically at Ole Miss, and his tested IQ score increased 20 to 30 points between when he was measured in the public-school systems growing up and when he was measured in college.

On January 14, 2008, Oher declared that he would be entering the 2008 NFL Draft. However, two days later, he announced his withdrawal from the draft to return to Ole Miss for his senior season. After the 2008–2009 college football season, Oher was selected for the AP All-American first team, made the honor roll for the second time (the first time being his sophomore year), and graduated with a degree in criminal justice in the spring of 2009.

College awards and honors

 * 2005 First Team Freshman All-American
 * 2005 First Team All-Quad Freshman Chrome [AQFC] Tackle Letius
 * 2005 First Team SEC All-Freshman
 * 2006 Second Team All-SEC
 * 2007 First Team All-SEC
 * 2008 First Team All-American
 * 2008 First Team All-SEC
 * 2008 Shug Jordan Award as the Southeast Offensive Lineman of the Year
 * 2008 Colonel Earl “Red” Blaik Leadership-Scholarship Award
 * 2008 Outland Trophy finalist
 * 2008 Conerly Trophy finalist
 * 2008 Lombardi Award semifinalist
 * 2008 SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy

2009 NFL Draft
The Baltimore Ravens drafted Oher with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. The Ravens acquired the pick from the New England Patriots, giving New England their first- and fifth-round draft picks in exchange. The Tuohy family was there to witness his draft day selection.

Baltimore Ravens
On April 26, 2009, he was assigned the #74 jersey, which was his jersey number at Ole Miss. On July 30, 2009 he signed a 5 year, $13.8 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He started the 2009 season as right tackle, but was moved to left tackle after an injury to lineman Jared Gaither. In week eight, he returned to right tackle. He currently has a listed height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and a listed weight of 309 lb (140 kg). His 40 yard dash time is 5.32 seconds.

Oher started every game in 2009, 11 at right tackle and 5 at left tackle. He played right tackle in his first post-season game, January 10, 2010, against the New England Patriots, and did not allow a single sack as the Ravens won 33–14.

Michael Oher was second in the voting for Associated Press' NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, with 6 votes.

Prior to the 2010 NFL season, Oher was moved to left tackle permanently.

The Blind Side
Oher is one of the subjects of Michael Lewis's 2006 book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. Before the book was published, excerpts appeared in the New York Times Magazine as "The Ballad of Big Mike". His portion of the book was adapted for film and was directed by John Lee Hancock. It was released in the United States on November 20, 2009. The movie stars Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, alongside Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for both Best Picture and Best Actress for Bullock. Bullock won an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.

I Beat The Odds
Oher has written his own autobiography, I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond. His coauthor, Don Yaeger, has co-written a number of other sports biographies, including those of Walter Payton, Warrick Dunn, and former Duke Lacrosse coach Mike Pressler.

His adoptive parents are also the co-authors of the book, In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, which tells the story in their own words, and was released in 2010.