(Daily Mail) Jason Whitlock has ripped Michael Oher for filing a legal petition against the Tuohy family, who provided the troubled teen with a stable environment prior to his college and pro football careers.
Whitlock surgically criticized the former NFL player on Fearless With Jason Whitlock, after he accused the Tuohys of willfully tricking and exploiting him for financial gain. As ever, the BlazeTV host bluntly delivered a rebuke to allegations made by Oher in a Tennessee court filing Monday.
‘Why are members of the media going along with Oher’s effort to shakedown the Tuohy family for cash under the pretense that they lied to, and exploited him, for profit?’ Whitlock posed.
Then came a characteristically flammable comment — similar to those which gained him national prominence at The Kansas City Star, ESPN and Fox Sports.
‘What he’s doing to the to the family is despicable. He’s telling an obvious lie that he knows most of the media will be too afraid to question because he’s black,’ he said.
BlazeTV journalist Jason Whitlock unloaded on Michael Oher, labeling his actions ‘despicable’
Oher (center) filed a legal petition against Sean (left) and Leigh Anne Tuohy (right) on Monday
Plus, the media is lazy; it’s easy to repeat allegations than to question and/or research the legitimacy of this.
‘It’s also easier to just feel sorry for Michael Oher; he’s broken. The first 15 years of his life are a tragedy – that’s not my opinion – read his (2011) book, it’s his own words. His mother was addicted to crack cocaine and birthed a dozen children with a variety of men.’
In 2004, while aged 18, Oher and his birth mother signed paperwork which made the Tuohys his conservators – in other words, they were able to legally act on business interests in his name. In his 2011 best-seller I Beat the Odds, Oher described his version of how it came to be.
‘They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as “adoptive parents”, but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account.’
Oher joined Marshall Ramsey on Now You’re Talking with Michael Ramsey Monday morning, to promote his latest book; When Your Back’s Against the Wall, adding another layer of curiosity as to the timing of the filing.
The 37-year-old has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with The Blind Side film and its portrayal of him – even suggesting it affected his football career.
‘Whatever you see in the movie or books you’ve have to understand what it took for me be this 18-year-old kid when this story took shape,’ Oher told Ramsey.
‘And the things I went through, and had to do to go through to that point I went through, from 3 years old to 18, when I moved in with the Tuohy family – who I’m grateful for letting me stay my senior year there.
Oher is seen with Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy after the NFC title game in January of 2016
Oher was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft
The 37-year-old earned $34.5 million over nine NFL seasons after The Blind Side’s release
‘But you have to understand, I was an All-American football player before I moved in with them, you have to understand what it took for me to get to that point.’
Oher’s rhetoric during Monday’s interview, and in previous interviews on the subject, certainly implies a craving for greater personal praise for his own part in the rags-to-riches story.
‘Michael Oher wants credit,’ Whitlock added. ‘I get it, I really do. He wants to be the star and hero of his own movie. Most people do. Oher lacks self-awareness, humility and, quite possibly, intelligence. Making $34 million as an average professional athlete will certainly create some delusion.’
Whitlock’s potent rebuke didn’t stop there.
‘Michael Oher is so arrogant and delusional that he believes his natural intellect would have developed regardless of circumstances. It’s a naïve worldview. He’s still naïve. He believes this desperate attempt to shake down the family that welcomed him into their home is a good look, and is going to lead to a financial windfall. It’s not. As lazy as the media, as lazy as reporters and pundits are, they’re going to have to deal with the truth.
‘The Tuohys were wealthy when they took legal guardianship of Oher. They sold their family business for $200 million. They had no financial motive to exploit Oher. They exercised no control over his professional career.’
The rags-to-riches story of Oher was made into the 2009 Oscar-winning film, The Blind Side
Oher alleged he was tricked into signing a document which made the Tuohys conservators – not his adoptive parents – and subsequently allowed them to profit off him
