Just days after a Tennessee judge put an end to the conservatorship agreement between Michael Oher and the Tuohys, the author of the infamous 2006 book, “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” is still running his mouth.
In August, Michael Lewis came to the defense of Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy, claiming that they never made millions off of the 2009 film and that they paid Oher all the money he was owed.
Nearly two months later, Lewis is coming to the defense of the Tuohys again. Only this time, he’s taking more shots at Oher and his football career.
In a lengthy interview with The Guardian, Lewis was open about a multitude of things, including his relationships with the subjects of other books he’s written such as “Liar’s Poker,” “Flash Boys,” and “Moneyball.”
But when he started to speak on the subjects of The Blind Side, most notably Oher, his tone changed. Lewis claimed that Oher would not have made it to the NFL without the help of the Tuohys and that his football career is the reason for his “aggression” toward the family that raised him.
More from The Guardian:
On a football field, “he was not useful”, Lewis said. “And the person who’s authoritative on this is Hugh Freeze, whom we saw on the sidelines two nights ago.” Freeze, Oher’s old coach, had recently spoken up for the Tuohys, and Lewis thought him brave. “It’s this cancel culture thing. It takes an act of courage to stand up to the mob.”
Lewis recalled Oher as a shy young boy and found it hard to square that memory with the Oher behind the lawsuit. “What we’re watching is a change of behaviour,” he told me. “This is what happens to football players who get hit in the head: they run into problems with violence and aggression.” It wouldn’t surprise him, Lewis said, if we were seeing some confluence of Oher’s history in football with other campaigns that stoke claims and lawsuits like his. Perhaps some lawyer of Oher’s figured the time was ripe to sue the Tuohys, Lewis speculated, or perhaps Oher realised people would “get behind him if he makes these accusations.”
This is where I have a problem with Lewis. If you disagree with his claims that the Tuohys tricked him into signing a conservatorship agreement and that they used it as an opportunity to make business deals in his name, that’s one thing.
But to say that the reason for his “change in behavior” and “aggression” is because of his football career is irresponsible and irrelevant. Has Oher hit anyone? Not off the football field. Is he being charged with assault? Not that we know of. Did he beat the breaks off the Tuohys? No.
So why bring it up? I’m not saying that football can’t affect a former NFL player’s state of mind, but we can’t use it as a reason to dismiss everything former football players say just because we disagree with it.
Whether a lawyer has bone to pick with the Tuohys or not, Oher has the right to stand for himself in a legal setting.