Michael Oher was born in 1986 into a very large and poor African American family in Memphis, Tennessee and became a Ward of the State at some point in his young life.

Michael Oher is the subject of a 2009 book by Michael Lewis and the 2009 movie, The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock. He published his own book in 2011.

In this The Daily podcast, American journalist Michael Sokolove discusses the fact that Michael Oher is currently suing the Tuohy family, the family who took him in and encouraged him to play professional football.

According to Michael Oher, the Tuohys claimed they had adopted him. They never did. Instead, they had a conservatorship agreement, taken out in 2004 when Michael was 18. The conservatorship was ended in 2023.

Michael Oher is also alleging the Tuohys exploited the football star, using him to promote their speaking engagements over the years which have earned them around $8 million.