Michael Oher celebrated trip to Super Bowl with ‘The Blind Side’ family

ESPN
David Newton

Carolina Panthers left tackle Michael Oher might not be a fan of “The Blind Side,” but he’s a fan of the family that turned his rags-to-riches story into the 2009 Hollywood movie…

And they’re big fans of his.

Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, the Memphis, Tennessee, couple that adopted Oher, as depicted in the movie, attended Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium.

The Tuohys were on the field celebrating with Oher after Carolina won 49-15 to advance to Super Bowl 50 against the Denver Broncos.

Oher posted this picture on social media today.You can bet the Tuohys will be pulling for Oher in the Super Bowl.

Despite living in Tennessee, they were diehard Ole Miss fans. They didn’t want Oher to go to the University of Tennessee, where Denver quarterback Peyton Manning had a legendary college career.

In the movie, Oher’s tutor, played by Kathy Bates, attempts to scare Oher away from Tennessee by saying, “That’s a good school. Not at the academic level of Ole Miss, but they have an outstanding science department. You know what they’re famous for? They work with the FBI, to study the effects of soil on decomposing body parts. When they find a body, the police wanna know how long it’s been dead. So the fine folks at Tennessee help them out. Oh, they have lots of body parts.”

Oher went to Ole Miss and later was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens, with whom he won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season.

Oher told ESPN.com before this season that he wasn’t a fan of “The Blind Side.”

“People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie,” he said in June. “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.”

Carolina players like to pick on Oher about the movie. Oher said he doesn’t mind. He said it helped put him at ease with his new teammates when he was signed as a free agent during the offseason.

He definitely appeared at ease with his “The Blind Side” family on Sunday night.