Michael Oher, the football star whose story is featured in the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," said this week that the film hurt his NFL career rather than help it.
“That's why people criticize me. That's why people look at me
every single play,” Oher said Wednesday, according to ESPN.
The 29-year-old's comments come in the wake of a recent scuffle between him and defensive end Kony Ealy at a
Carolina Panthers minicamp, according to The Huffington Post, in which the two threw some punches, rolled on the ground, and had to be separated by teammates.
“I'm not trying to prove anything,” Oher said, according to ESPN. “People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie. 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.”
The movie, directed by John Lee Hancock and based upon a book by Michael Lewis, catapulted Oher to fame as it told the story of how Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family took Oher in from the streets and helped him earn his admission to Ole Miss and succeed in football as an All-American left tackle and a first-round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens. The film grossed $300 million and earned Sandra Bullock, who played Tuohy, an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Oher played with the Ravens as starting left tackle for the team's 2012 Super Bowl victory before putting up a poor performance the next season, causing the Ravens to let him go. He later played for the Tennessee Titans before being released after a toe injury. He currently plays for the Panthers.
Oher claims that his scuffle with Ealy garnered more attention than it earned because of his film fame.
“Offensive linemen don't get looked at,” Oher said, according to ESPN. “Nobody is paying attention to the offensive line. But me? I'm getting watched for everything. I know what type of player I am. Everybody else that I know knows what type of player I am. So that kind of stuff doesn't worry me.”
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