Former NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher, the subject of the movie "The Blind Side," tells Newsmax his newest book, "When Your Back's Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned through a Lifetime of Adversity" is a "playbook on life" about developing a foundation for the future.
" 'Beat the Odds' was basically about my career, and some of my younger years, leading up to the NFL," Oher, who played for the Baltimore Ravens, the Tennessee Titans, and the Carolina Panthers before retiring in 2016, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
The new book, Oher said, is a "continuation of that and giving back to the generations behind us, and more obstacles I had to deal with."
It's also a "playbook on life, dealing with health, the environment just getting back to bringing love and positivity and developing a foundation," said Oher.
He added that he wants to help "bring young people along, because [there's] a lot of hopelessness out there right now … growing up, I didn't have anything but negativity around me. So when you think you know there's no hope ahead, you have to envision what your future looks like."
Oher said in his case, he had to "put positive images in my mind and work with that every day and build up on that to get where I wanted to be."
But going through job loss and dealing with concussions and brain injuries, Oher said he learned he needed family friends who could be close to him and help him heal.
"Healing yourself first, a hurt person can't help anyone," he continued. "After you do that, you can go back and help others."
Oher said that one important thing is to remember that "when you're feeling hopeless and paralyzed with fear, and you don't think you can fight your way out of it," one can "do anything if you're looking yourself in the mirror and meeting people halfway who want to help you and give back. So you have to do your part, but you can get it done with some self-perseverance."
Oher, who has suffered concussions, said that "Football is football, but I still love it, but it's a dangerous game.
"One of the most important things, what I would say about dealing with the concussion, is mental health," said Oher. "You have to take time for yourself. It's like I said, a hurt person, you can't help anyone. So you have to be vulnerable. You have to admit that you're going through something."
Oher also talked about the difficulties in transitioning from football into a different world.
"It is something that got me out of some of the worst situations that you can ever be in, so, of course, it was hard," said Oher. "When I sat around, and I thought about it, I thought about legacy and I didn't like the way my story left off from when I was done playing football. I thought I had so much more. I thought about the generations that were coming up behind me, someone like myself who needed a mentor, who needed community."
Oher has also formed the Oher Foundation, through which he said he partners with schools and gives children who don't have resources and opportunities a way to be successful.
He also told Newsmax that his faith also helped him get through many of the difficulties of his life.
"Looking back on it now, I felt alone a lot of the time but looking back on it, I had someone with me and it was God, so my faith is strong in that and I do believe 100% in the higher power," Oher said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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