Oher, the central figure of the inspiring 2009 movie “The Blind Side,” about a homeless Black kid rescued off the street by a well-meaning white family who ultimately becomes a prosperous NFL offensive tackle, believes he’s owed an eight-figure slice from the movie’s $300 million in sales.
Once again, it looks like fairyland has been lost, the pixie dust rendered fool’s gold. To sports fans, the Oher saga is just another reminder we just can’t have nice things, at least not for very long.
Michael Oher came out with a book last Monday, the very same day he turned his fairytale, feel-good football story into a cold pail of water doused over the many of us who’d prefer to be left free to roam in fairyland.
Advertisement
But that’s just the math, a reported $15 million that Oher, now age 37 and retired since 2016, believes should be in his pocket. The cringier edge to it all is his contention that he was bamboozled out of that dough by the very couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who plucked him off the streets and lovingly nurtured him in their home.
Get Sports Headlines The Globe’s most recent sports headlines delivered to your inbox every morning. Enter Email Sign Up
All along, until February of this year, Oher claims, he believed he was legally adopted by the Tuohys, only to find out the papers he signed at age 18 actually placed him into conservatorship. Per Monday’s court filing, he basically contends the Tuohys used that conservatorship as shield to funnel movie money their way instead of to Oher.
The breach of the Tuohys’ fiduciary duty as conservators, noted Oher’s petition to the court, was “gross and appalling.”
Now that sure takes the shine off the movie, doesn’t it? Not even the superb Sandra Bullock, who earned an Oscar for her performance in “The Blind Side,” could put a shine to gross and appalling.
Advertisement
Per myriad reports throughout the week, in fact, Oher, now married and a father of four, almost 20 years later remains subject to that conservatorship. The twist there: It reportedly was written to terminate upon his 25th birthday, though apparently neither Oher nor anyone on his behalf filed for termination.
The case mirrors in part that epic spit fight that pop singer Britney Spears (#FreeBritney) had for years until November 2021, when Spears, days prior to turning 40, finally succeeded in terminating the conservatorship held by her father, Jamie.
Folks, you know the joy in Mudville has plummeted to sub-Caseyan levels when we’ve dragged the life and times of Britney Spears as a “comp” into the sports pages. That in itself is a blind-side smack that Oher in his prime NFL days with the Ravens (2009-13) couldn’t have handled. To steal one of Spears’s Top 10 titles, “Toxic!”
It’s been a hard few weeks here on the sports money beat, replete with some mind-numbing numbers.
The two biggest gems, in case you missed out:
▪ According to a former pal of Phil Mickelson, a guy who contends good ol’ Lefty remained silent when a word or two could have spared him a five-year jail sentence for insider trading, the golf star piled up $100 million in sports betting losses across a stretch of some 30 years.
The ex-pal, sports gambling guru Billy Walters, has a book coming out Wednesday, titled: “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk” by Simon & Schuster. Among his claims, Walters writes that Mickelson in 2012 considered betting $400,000 on his US brothers to win the Ryder Cup played that year at Medinah Country Club CC just outside Chicago. Overall, Walters says, Mickelson bet a total of $1 billion. “Phil,” writes Walters, “is not always the person he seems to be.”
Advertisement
Walters lost a daughter to suicide while in the slammer and feels he had a chance to talk her out of it, had Mickelson spoke up, exonerated him in court, and spared him the jail hitch.
▪ About a month earlier, the New York Times reported that ex-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady suffered a $30 million hit amid the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency outfit for which Brady signed up as TV pitchman in 2021.
When the company went belly-up, so did the $30 million worth of shares that Brady pocketed for touting FTX on commercials. So did the $18 million in shares that Brady’s then-wife, Gisele Bundchen, carved off the same deal.
Not to make light of that $15 million that Oher believes he’s owed, but man, he’s kicking rocks down Baltic Avenue while Mickelson and Brady-Bundchen are pondering hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk.
The crypto crash could get worse for the now-divorced Brady-Bundchen. FTX shareholders, with no shot to recover their losses, are going after the gaggle of celebrities who signed on to pitch the now-fallen financial empire, which once was valued at $32 billion. The group includes Brady, Bundchen, Shaquille O’Neal, Larry David, Naomi Osaka, and Stephen Curry.
Advertisement
We’ve watched these sad financial sagas play out for years, though the plot twists seem more convoluted and the numbers ever larger.
Bobby Orr was scammed by his agent, Alan Eagleson, who failed to inform the great Bruins defenseman he could have remained in Boston as a fractional owner of the franchise. Unaware, Orr signed on in 1976 as a free agent with Chicago.
Onetime Celtic Antoine Walker, bedeviled by carefree spending and the gambling bug, frittered away a purported $108 million in career earnings. The crushing blow came amid the Great Recession (2007-09), leading to bankruptcy. He sold his NBA championship ring, earned with the Miami Heat, three years ago for $21,500 — a night’s party money in his spending heyday.
Remember Jack Clark, who wrapped up his lengthy major league career in Boston in the early ’90s, with a three-year deal the Red Sox wrote for $8.7 million?
In 1992, the year he took his last licks in majors, Clark was $7 million in debt, in part because of an expensive home and his 18 cars, including, per a Los Angeles Times report, a $700,000 Ferrari. It was the same year, at37, the age Oher is today, that Clark filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and became a rookie driver on the National Hot Rod Association circuit. Vroom.
“I paid everybody back,” Clark told the LA Times two years later, “100 percent on the dollar.”
Clark got some of the nice things back. We should all be so lucky.
Advertisement
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.
Sports fans blindsided by yet another feel-good story, the Michael Oher saga, being taken away
- Advertisment - 
Recent Comments
on Iowa State starting RB Jirehl Brock among latest college football players charged in gambling probe
on The Rev. Al Sharpton to lead protest after Florida governor’s ban of African American studies course
on Sports World Hails ‘Superwoman’ Lindsey Vonn for Her Grand Comeback Despite Career-Changing Injury
on San Mateo County Community College District sues five companies over role in ‘pay to play’ scandal
on Saipan, placid island setting for Assange’s last battle, is briefly mobbed – and bemused by the fuss
on ‘Pokémon Scarlet’ and ‘Violet’ Fan Theories Suggest Legendary Time Travel, Alternate Dimension Plot
on Joe Manchin and Tommy Tuberville introduce bill on name, image and likeness rules for college sports
on Inside the Michael Jordan ‘Air’ movie, plus why NFL, others are buying into the sports film industry
on If you’re a frequent traveler, these wrap tops from Aday will revolutionize your on-the-go wardrobe
on How Does Jack Nicklaus Travel? Exploring the Private Jets Owned by the ‘Golden Bear’ Over the Years
on Hollywood Reporter: Tom Cruise negotiated with movie studios over AI before the actors strike began
on Ford Blue Cruise: US regulators investigate fatal crashes involving hands-free driving technology
on Dozens of boats cruise the Seine in a rehearsal for the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony on July 26
on Devout athletes find strength in their faith. But practicing it and elite sports can pose hurdles
on Despite strong Lunar New Year holiday data, consumer spending in China isn’t roaring back just yet
on David and Victoria Beckham so ‘Charmed’ by Tom Cruise They Have His Photos on Display at Their Home
on CONCEPT ART: New Details Revealed for Disney Cruise Line Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point Destination
on CBS Sports announces Matt Ryan will join NFL studio show. Longtime analysts Simms and Esiason depart
on Boston College vs. Army live stream, how to watch online, CBS Sports Network channel finder, odds
on Boise State vs. Air Force live stream, odds, channel, prediction, how to watch on CBS Sports Network
on Biden to tout bill’s prescription drug prices, energy provisions in pitch to Americans, aide says
on After UFC Fallout, Conor McGregor Offers a Valuable Piece of Advice to Free Agent Francis Ngannou
on 2024 Super Bowl: CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports HQ to combine for 115 hours of weeklong coverage
on ‘Best Intention’: Chris Kirk Has Absolute Trust in Jay Monahan and PGA Tour’s Widely Debated Model
on 2023 NFL All-Rookie Team: CBS Sports draft expert, former GM unveil league’s best first-year players
on “Completely Knocked Me Out”: Rob Lowe Recalls Boxing Match With Tom Cruise On 1983 Brat Pack Classic
on CONCEPT ART: New Details Revealed for Disney Cruise Line Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point Destination
on “Completely Knocked Me Out”: Rob Lowe Recalls Boxing Match With Tom Cruise On 1983 Brat Pack Classic
on CBS Sports announces Matt Ryan will join NFL studio show. Longtime analysts Simms and Esiason depart
on Carlos Sainz’s Soccer Fanboy Emerges as Spaniard Shares Defining Moment With This Real Madrid Legend
on Biden: ‘At this point I’m not’ planning to visit East Palestine, Ohio, after toxic train derailment
on ‘Best Intention’: Chris Kirk Has Absolute Trust in Jay Monahan and PGA Tour’s Widely Debated Model
on Ahead of big sports weekend, dispute with Disney leaves millions of cable subscribers in the dark
on A heavy wave of Russian missile attacks pounds areas across Ukraine, killing at least 4 civilians
on 2024 Super Bowl: CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports HQ to combine for 115 hours of weeklong coverage
on 2023 NFL All-Rookie Team: CBS Sports draft expert, former GM unveil league’s best first-year players
on Army vs. Coastal Carolina live stream, how to watch online, CBS Sports Network channel finder, odds
on AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez Spreads Joy and Sportsmanship to the Youth of Loma de Cabrera
on After UFC Fallout, Conor McGregor Offers a Valuable Piece of Advice to Free Agent Francis Ngannou
on Dubai International Airport sees 41.6 million passengers in first half of year, more than in 2019
on Devout athletes find strength in their faith. But practicing it and elite sports can pose hurdles
on Despite strong Lunar New Year holiday data, consumer spending in China isn’t roaring back just yet
on Dave Portnoy: Taylor Swift’s security should ‘drag Kim Kardashian to jail’ if she attends Eras Tour
on CONCEPT ART: New Details Revealed for Disney Cruise Line Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point Destination
on “Completely Knocked Me Out”: Rob Lowe Recalls Boxing Match With Tom Cruise On 1983 Brat Pack Classic
on CBS Sports, Serie A announce new TV rights deal; Paramount+ to air over 400 Italian soccer matches
on Cam Newton’s Violent Public Incident Draws Hilarious Reaction From 3x All-Star: “Where Do I Sign Up
on Boston College vs. Army live stream, how to watch online, CBS Sports Network channel finder, odds
on Angel Reese Launches Foundation Dedicated To Empowering Women Through Sports & Financial Literacy
on A weaker dollar, skyrocketing prices and ‘record’ visitor numbers: Good luck in Europe this summer