"The Blind Side" may have scored an Academy Award in 2009, but its real life main character was not a big fan. Carolina Panthers left tackle Michael Oher said Wednesday that the film has hurt his football career.
"People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie," Oher said via ESPN when asked if he still needs to earn his place on the team. "They don't really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That's why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.
"This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not, that has nothing to do with football. It's something else off the field. That's why I don't like that movie."
Oher, who was a first-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009, has repeatedly said that his character in the film was not accurate beyond just his personality traits. Specifically, he took issue with the film's depiction of his lack of football skills early on.
"I always knew how to play football growing up," Oher said via Yahoo Sports. "Playing football is what got me to this point."
Oher's former Ravens teammates have defended him publicly, saying that the character in the movie is not the real Oher.
"He's nothing like that," Kelechi Osemele said. "I can't even imagine Mike being like the guy that they portrayed on the movie."
Even if the movie did take some creative liberties with Oher's character and football knowledge, it's hard to say that the film is the main reason his career has not gone as smoothly as he has hoped. The Ravens chose not to re-sign Oher after five seasons and just one year into a five-year, $20 million deal with the Tennessee Titans, the team chose to cut Oher due to injuries and ineffective play.
Pro Football Focus referred to Oher as a "Dud" in 2014 and said that he "was poor towards the end of his time in Baltimore and Michael Oher carried that form over to his new team. Just a poor move in free agency on [the Titans'] part."
Sub-par play will get you cut demoted on any team, regardless of if there is a movie about your life or not. Let's see if he can turn it all around this year.
