Former OL Oher Blindsided: Suing Tuohy's Claiming They Never Adopted Him

[unbillievable]

Why was a conservatorship granted?

 

Doesn't it require a Doctor or Psychologist along with a Judge signing off on it?

 

What was wrong with Oher that the Tuoys were given adult guardianship?

Edited August 14, 2023 by unbillievable

[ColoradoBills]

5 hours ago, co_springs_billsfan said:

Give the people what they want!!

 

Great movie.  I need to watch it again.

[LeGOATski]

5 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

It's weird because the Tuohy's are wealthy and so is Oher (I would think).  Neither side needs the cash.  So why cheat, lie, and fight?  

There's this thing called greed....

[AuntieEm]

12 minutes ago, mrags said:

 No. Shane Falco was real but Clipper Franklin was definitely made up. 

 

 Clipper Franklin? Think you mean clifford Franklin.  I had to google clipper Franklin....no such person.

[SoTier]

 

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

2 hours ago, CookieG said:

The allegations, if true, present some pretty sticky legal issues.

 

If they obtained a conservatorship, the Touhey's (sp.) are under a legal duty to act in HIS best interest regarding his assets.  Those assets would include his name and his story. It is an independent duty created by the legal nature of the conservatorship.

 

If they simply gave away the monetary rights to his name and story...as court appointed conservators, they will have some questions to answer. Thy are not appointed to waste assets of the ward.  In fact, a conservatorship is created to prevent wasting of the ward's assets.

 

It gets worse if they personally profited from an asset of his that he never received a cut from.

 

 

How much did they make? And how much did he make? Did everyone sign off on this? Did someone fail to perform according to the agreement in any way? 

 

There is a lot of moral outrage here. If someone could give us the Cliff Notes on the facts and the contracts, that would be helpful. 

 

According to the ESPN article, the conservatorship is still in effect, and ending it is the primary reason for the lawsuit.  If Oher is broke -- as several posters on this thread have claimed -- that seems to be the Touheys' fault since they have been in charge of his finances for nearly 20 years.  The court filing also claims that the Touheys not only profited from the movie, but they have continued to profit from claiming that they adopted Oher, from foundations that they ran to books to motivational speaking tours, etc.   Moreover, Oher's sports agent was a close friend of the Touhey's, and the same lawyer who filed the conservatorship papers.  This entire situation stinks to high heaven.

 

 

1 hour ago, WotAGuy said:

One thing we learned from the Manziel documentary is that all sides are greasy when it comes to NCAA football; the schools, the leagues, the families and the kids. There’s too much money involved for it to be squeaky clean. 

 

As a former grad student at a large Midwestern university that was a football powerhouse (ie, National Champion) in the 1970s when I attended, I will attest to this.  Grad students without scruples could earn big bucks by "tutoring" football players so they could maintain their eligibility.

 

The New York Times article quoted by Syhuang in his/her post suggests that the Touheys were hardly altruistic in helping Oher.  It seems that they viewed helping him get NCAA acceptance as an "investment" in getting him to the NFL which lead them to help him skirt the intent of the NCAA rules.  If Oher's GPA was too low, he could have attended a junior college for a couple of years where he could have improved his grades in order to transfer to a NCAA school.  That was both Cam Newton's and Josh Allen's route to the NFL (although not necessarily for poor HS GPAs).

Edited August 14, 2023 by SoTier

[Billy Claude]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

How much did they make? And how much did he make? Did everyone sign off on this? Did someone fail to perform according to the agreement in any way? 

 

There is a lot of moral outrage here. If someone could give us the Cliff Notes on the facts and the contracts, that would be helpful. 

 

From New York magazine: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/08/michael-oher-claims-tuohys-scammed-him-of-blind-side-money.html#:~:text=According to the filing%2C The,million at the box office.

 

This is what Oher claim in his filing.   If it goes to court it should be easy to check:

 

The 2009 movie, based on a book by Michael Lewis, won Sandra Bullock the Academy Award for Best Actress. According to the filing, The Blind Side netted the Tuohys and their two children $225,000 each plus 2.5 percent of the “defined net proceeds” — a substantial sum for a movie that made $309 million at the box office. But Oher claims that a contract signed in 2007 waived his rights to any proceeds “without any payment whatsoever.” He says he has no memory of signing such a contract; even if he did, he says he was not informed of its ramifications.

 

If this is true, its hard to figure out why Oher didn't get at least the same share as the children.  Maybe their relationship was already on the outs at that time.  Oher was fairly quick to say that the movie wasn't accurate at the time.

 

 

[mrags]

12 minutes ago, AuntieEm said:

 

 Clipper Franklin? Think you mean clifford Franklin.  I had to google clipper Franklin....no such person.

Exactly. He was made up 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

7 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Seems like a money grab after the fact. They had no way of knowing he would be in the NFL when they took him in.

 

I mean maybe there is some wrong on their side that occurred after the fact once big time money got involved with the movie tho...

 

Maybe he FINALLY found out he was never adopted (maybe when he was married), and then after further investigation, found out that he never was legally adopted and he had been lied to about a LOT of things?!!

 

Betrayal cuts deep, but thinking this is a money grab is utterly ridiculous.

1 hour ago, unbillievable said:

Why was a conservatorship granted?

 

Doesn't it require a Doctor or Psychologist along with a Judge signing off on it?

 

What was wrong with Oher that the Tuoys were given adult guardianship?

 

He was tricked into signing papers thinking they were adoption papers... that's why. He agreed to it in writing supposedly.

3 hours ago, mannc said:

Does it seem rotten to you that they made millions off the movie and Oher didn't get a dime (allegedly)?

 

Evidently in Utah taking people's money or land is just being smart and proactive.

[unbillievable]

16 minutes ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

He was tricked into signing papers thinking they were adoption papers... that's why. He agreed to it in writing supposedly.

 

From what I read, He doesn't just sign random papers. There has to be a hearing of some kind where professionals are involved, a doctor and judge usually, with proof of an inability for an adult to handle their responsibilities.

 

Life isn't like the Little Mermaid movie.

[Mark Vader]

Will he sue Sandra Bullock? If anything for constantly having to shove awful movies at us? That would be awesome!

 

 

 

 

[unbillievable]

1 minute ago, Mark Vader said:

Will he sue Sandra Bullock? If anything for constantly having to shove awful movies at us? That would be awesome!

 

Blindside was nominated for Best Movie of the Year!

[Mark Vader]

1 minute ago, unbillievable said:

 

Blindside was nominated for Best Movie of the Year!

Didn't she win Best Actress for that movie too? Guess she better give that Oscar back.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Mark Vader

[unbillievable]

2 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

Didn't she win Best Actress for that movie too? Guess she better give that Oscar back.

 

Fun Fact:

 

Bullock won best actress for "Blindside" the same year she won worst actress for "All about Steve." 2009

[Mark Vader]

2 minutes ago, unbillievable said:

 

Fun Fact:

 

Bullock won best actress for "Blindside" the same year she won worst actress for "All about Steve." 2009

That's right. She even showed up to receive her award at The Golden Raspberries.

 

Then in true classless Sandra Bullock form, she admonished the people who make the Raspberry awards.

[Since1981]

I have no doubt Touhys described it as adoption. Not in family ensures  full ride finaid $$ Alabama.
 

Adult conservatorship should be insanely hard to acquire. Adult has a choice to blow money. “pursuit of happiness” and all that founding fathers jazz.

 

It’s pretty lame they didn’t adopt him

Edited August 15, 2023 by Since1981

[Since1981]

They were very wealthy franchisees. Sean Tuohy does say at 18 yrs old there’s not much they could do.  “ Tuohy says he was in no need of cash after he had sold his fast-food franchises for over $200 million.”

https://www.tmz.com/2023/08/14/sean-tuohy-calls-michael-oher-claims-insulting-says-family-made-no-money-off-blind-side/

Edited August 15, 2023 by Since1981

[Joe Ferguson forever]

7 hours ago, Rico said:

I saw the movie, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

inhere seems pretty smart.  He was reportedly very upset at how he was portrayed in the move in regards to his intelligence.

[hondo in seattle]

51 minutes ago, Since1981 said:

They were very wealthy franchisees. Sean Tuohy does say at 18 yrs old there’s not much they could do.  “ Tuohy says he was in no need of cash after he had sold his fast-food franchises for over $200 million.”

https://www.tmz.com/2023/08/14/sean-tuohy-calls-michael-oher-claims-insulting-says-family-made-no-money-off-blind-side/

Elsewhere, I read he sold for $213 million.  And he still owns 11 Taco Bells which probably nets him roughly $2 million/year. He's not hurting for money. 

 

It's hard to imagine him, with the kind of financial resources he has, throwing his morals and values to the wind to screw his 'adopted' son for a little more money that he doesn't really need.  

[Mango]

Man. This has to be a TBD record. 7 pages and 80% of responses didn’t read the article. Some of you willfully won’t.
 

Wild. 
 

 

[transient]

6 hours ago, mrags said:

You should watch The Draft instead. Much more realistic to yell at Brandon Beane looking like a douche in a movie. 

That was Russ Brandon, and he can’t help it that he has resting douche face. 

[mrags]

8 minutes ago, transient said:

That was Russ Brandon, and he can’t help it that he has resting douche face. 

Oh snap. My bad. BBB If you saw this, I apologize. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by mrags

[JoPoy88]

10 hours ago, mrags said:

I mean, Oher received a home with a roof over his head. Not inside a slum with a crackhead 

mother and no father. He was guided into having an NFL career and made millions from it. 
 

im not saying he doesn’t have a gripe. Just seems kind of petty to complain about it now. The guy had a successful career in the NFL and made millions thanks to that family. Without them it doesn’t happen. He probably blew all his money and has no other options at this point. 

yeah so his background allows people to allegedly defraud him. You’re on a roll recently. 

[Southern_Bills]

10 hours ago, mrags said:

I mean, Oher received a home with a roof over his head. Not inside a slum with a crackhead 

mother and no father. He was guided into having an NFL career and made millions from it. 
 

im not saying he doesn’t have a gripe. Just seems kind of petty to complain about it now. The guy had a successful career in the NFL and made millions thanks to that family. Without them it doesn’t happen. He probably blew all his money and has no other options at this point. 

 

Bad take imo. If the reports are true they lied to him so they could profit off his name/likeness, under the impression he was signing paperwork to join their family.

 

Like I said, if it's true they are horrible people. 

 

I mean people house homeless people just to get insurance policies on them so they get paid when they die, should the homeless feel used or fortunate to have a roof for a period of time 🤷

[transient]

5 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Wait until you find out Kevin Costner was  never really the GM of the Cleveland Browns...

Wait… so he didn’t call the GM of the Seahawks a pancake eating motherf****r in really real life?!?! Next I suppose you’re gonna tell me that David Putney doesn’t exist! 🤦‍♂️

[Doc Brown]

I'll be honest about this story.  I didn't see it coming.

[JoPoy88]

10 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

True. He was just the only one not being paid for it if allegations are correct.

 

"Their relationship continued to deteriorate as he learned that he was the only member of the family not receiving royalty checks from the movie, and it was permanently fractured when he realized he wasn't adopted and a part of the family."

Exactly. Guess the prevailing opinion in this case at this board is “he got got” and it’s all good. Guess his white saviors get to profit on the story more than him, even though without Oher and his talent and subsequent success there is no story at all.

 

This place surprises me more and more every day. And mostly not in a good way. 

[JoPoy88]

10 hours ago, mrags said:

 I didn’t. And don’t need to. Regardless if he was actually “adopted” or not. Who cares. Was he brought into their home? Was he given a roof over his head? Did he have a parental figure helping him and assisting him unlike his actual mother? Would he be a retired NFL player if not for that family? 
 

nobody is owed anything in this world. He of all people should know that. So what the family profited from the story. So did he. He became an NFL star. Earned millions. 

Who cares? Because it’s possible fraud. And you didn’t read it, because “you don’t have to” - that’s right, mrags knows everything he needs to know about the world. Jesus Christ. 
 

It’s always the dumbest people that take these stances, and I can’t say that streak has been broken here. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by JoPoy88

[JoPoy88]

10 hours ago, Bob Jones said:

Totally agree with this. The main gripe (other than the $$$, and isn’t it ALWAYS about the $$$...LOL) seems to be that he wasn't "legally adopted", but for all intents and purposes, he was adopted by that family. Sort of like a "common law marriage" situation. 

 

It is peculiar though that the family would actually write in their book that he was getting a cut of the movie profits, while in reality (according to the lawsuit) he was getting zilch. That makes no sense.

 

Yeah, he was “basically” adopted - so he got none of the legal benefits of being “legally” adopted…but yeah, as you say, no harm no foul right? (And it’s nothing like common law marriage. Common law marriage literally *IS* marriage in the states that allow it. So that analogy falls out your window and splatters on the pavement immediately.)
 

And then you point out the fact that these people lied about it both in the book (written by Mr. Tuohy’s buddy from high school) and in the movie. Very “peculiar” as you say.

10 hours ago, mrags said:

That’s a false. He’d most likely either be in prison or dead. Statistics are real. 

I had little doubt of what you are, but thanks for eliminating that.

[Nephilim17]

"But there are some important legal distinctions. If Oher had been adopted by the Tuohys, he would have been a legal member of their family, and he would have retained power to handle his own financial affairs. Under the conservatorship, Oher surrendered that authority to the Tuohys, even though he was a legal adult with no known physical or psychological disabilities."

 

Very interesting stuff there. I will reserve judgement till a court case is held but that point above is curious, at the very least.

[syhuang]

Now it’s getting more interesting…….

 

Michael Oher's 'adoptive' brother SJ Tuohy claims ex-NFL star demanded money from the family in exchange for keeping quiet... as he insists 'no one was surprised' by lawsuit

——————————————

'If he says he learned that [the conservatorship] in February, I find that very hard to believe. I was curious today to go back to our family group texts to see what had been said. There was things back in 2020 and 2021 that were like, "if you guys give me this much money, I won't go public with things." So I don't know if that's true.

——————————————

 

 

 

Tuohy Family Breaks Silence On The Michael Oher Accusations: Sean Tuohy Calls Allegations ‘Insulting’

 

———————————————————

The 63-year-old went on to claim that he and his wife did not profit off the film, The Blind Side. “We didn’t make any money off the movie,” he alleged. “Well, Michael Lewis (the author of the book ‘The Blind Side’) gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each. We were never offered money; we never asked for money. My money is well-documented; you can look up how much I sold my company for.”

 

…

…

Furthermore, Sean addressed Michael’s conservatorship claims. “Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that,” Sean claimed. “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family. I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’ We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”

——————————————————-

[Thurman#1]

12 hours ago, mrags said:

I guess it depends on how many millions I already made from the career that I had because a family took me in helped me become successful 

 

 

If you're a saintly man, an absolute paragon of zen-like acceptance of life, I can see this would be possible.

 

For those who did not qualify for the top millionth of a percentage of humans, we would be angry to some degree. Their treatment of me would/should absolutely be a factor, of course. But when wronged, people get frustrated and angry. It's not the best of human characteristics, but it's pretty universal.

 

People who have a few million dollars are not exempt from this human weakness. Take a look at Elon Musk, for example. Does he seem generally calm, zen-like and accepting of small grievances?

 

I'd have to hear the details of the adoption part of the story, but I can imagine that causing great pain depending on circumstances and motives.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Thurman#1

[JoPoy88]

2 hours ago, syhuang said:

Now it’s getting more interesting…….

 

Michael Oher's 'adoptive' brother SJ Tuohy claims ex-NFL star demanded money from the family in exchange for keeping quiet... as he insists 'no one was surprised' by lawsuit

——————————————

'If he says he learned that [the conservatorship] in February, I find that very hard to believe. I was curious today to go back to our family group texts to see what had been said. There was things back in 2020 and 2021 that were like, "if you guys give me this much money, I won't go public with things." So I don't know if that's true.

——————————————

 

 

 

Tuohy Family Breaks Silence On The Michael Oher Accusations: Sean Tuohy Calls Allegations ‘Insulting’

 

———————————————————

The 63-year-old went on to claim that he and his wife did not profit off the film, The Blind Side. “We didn’t make any money off the movie,” he alleged. “Well, Michael Lewis (the author of the book ‘The Blind Side’) gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each. We were never offered money; we never asked for money. My money is well-documented; you can look up how much I sold my company for.”

 

…

…

Furthermore, Sean addressed Michael’s conservatorship claims. “Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that,” Sean claimed. “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family. I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’ We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”

——————————————————-

Except you can be adopted in many, many states over the age of 18, with mutual consent (including Tennessee (since 1949) and Mississippi.)

Edited August 15, 2023 by JoPoy88

[JoPoy88]

11 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

If you're a saintly man, an absolute paragon of zen-like acceptance of life, I can see this would be possible.

 

For those who did not qualify for the top millionth of a percentage of humans, we would be angry to some degree. Their treatment of me would/should absolutely be a factor, of course. But when wronged, people get frustrated and angry. It's not the best of human characteristics, but it's pretty universal.

 

People who have a few million dollars are not exempt from this human weakness. Take a look at Elon Musk, for example. Does he seem generally calm, zen-like and accepting of small grievances?

That saintly man or woman as you say would also be more popularly known as a “dupe” or an “easy mark” in today’s society, unfortunate to say. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by JoPoy88

[unbillievable]

29 minutes ago, syhuang said:

Furthermore, Sean addressed Michael’s conservatorship claims. “Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that,” Sean claimed. “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family. I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’ We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”

 

——————————————————-

 

Why would the NCAA require an adoption/conservatorship to attend Ole Miss?

 

Is there a rule I'm not familiar with?

[BritBill]

13 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Needless to say, Blindside II will be a great movie. 

 

A cross between Diff'rent Strokes and Kramer v Kramer. 

[unbillievable]

7 hours ago, unbillievable said:

Why was a conservatorship granted?

Doesn't it require a Doctor or Psychologist along with a Judge signing off on it?

What was wrong with Oher that the Tuoys were given adult guardianship?

 

I did some research and the state granted Conservatorship because Oher was poor.  "Impoverishment" is a qualifying disability.

 

This lawsuit maybe about Oher getting control of his personal finances.

[Since1981]

4 hours ago, Mango said:

Man. This has to be a TBD record. 7 pages and 80% of responses didn’t read the article. Some of you willfully won’t.

This is a bad take on the forum.
 
there are two points of view in this and two PR releases. But, basically, Touhys said they are rich but couldn't “adopt” an 18 yr old but wanted to look out for him (conservancy) On the other hand, Michael thought he had been “adopted” into a family and now emotionally feels cheated ($ is just a symptom and a side show)

[JoPoy88]

29 minutes ago, unbillievable said:

 

I did some research and the state granted Conservatorship because Oher was poor.  "Impoverishment" is a qualifying disability.

 

This lawsuit maybe about Oher getting control of his personal finances.

link on that research? 

[JoPoy88]

4 hours ago, Mango said:

Man. This has to be a TBD record. 7 pages and 80% of responses didn’t read the article. Some of you willfully won’t.
 

Wild. 
 

 

Yeah. I wonder why.

[Billy Claude]

This doesn't seem like a he said/she said issue.   It shouldn't take much effort for the courts to find out who is telling the truth about this since they can easily subpoena the relevant contracts/ financial records.