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Comments
Too many red flags to think things were on the level
Nah that’s insane. He was a highly recruited athlete before them
How many of them had a move made about them?
You know there are a lot of levels between being a nobody and having a movie made about you right? It’s the norm for well-known football players to not have movies about them. But I will concede that he likely would not have been exploited for a film that portrayed him in a tremendously negative light if not for the Tuohys.
Yep, but no guarantee his turns out the same. There are many great athletes that don’t make it because of a terrible home life and upbringing. He was successful and played in the NFL. We just don’t know if that would’ve been the same fate if they didn’t take him in.
Definitely agree it skewed his trajectory in a positive trajectory.
You mean this fictionalized version of the events? Based on a true story, not the actual story. It’s clear here who read the book and who just watched the movie.
The movie was a vehicle for Sandra Bullock to show off and for privileged people to feel good about being a savior.
The book actually told the whole story while also being about protecting the blind side of a QB and the history of the LT position.
A vehicle for Bullock? She already had 37 movie credits before this, including the Speed movies, the Miss Congeniality movies, The Lake House, The Proposal and only did another 11 after. She had already produced or executive produced 9 other films. She had her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 4 years prior to the movie. What an absolute dismissal of an established talent in Hollywood.
I do think the entire story has been misrepresented as singularly belonging to Oher. The Tuohy's are not the main character obviously, but they are integral to what happened.
When facts are not in evidence I tend to go with Occam's razor. In that vein, I find it plausible that the Tuohy's chose conservatorship over adoption either because their legal rep told them to or perhaps they truly weren't ready to make Oher a legal family member.
But more importantly, it makes little sense that they knew the book/movie/Michael himself would be a tremendous financial cash cow. If they did see that coming, then they signed a really bad deal for him and themselves. Anyone who could foresee book and movie success would have inked a MUCH better deal. I think it makes more sense that the reason they got involved legally at all is simple....they wanted him to go to Ole Miss.
If they wanted to continue "banking" on Oher's financial windfall, then wouldn't Oher be claiming their cut of his NFL contract? At the time, that would have been a more guaranteed bet. When he signed his NFL contract, why didn't the conservatorship come up? Did he not even speak to the Tuohy's about it? They were on good terms then.
If the Tuohy's motivation is suspect, then so is Oher's.....currently on a book tour, taking full advantage of the current socio-political environment.
All good points
Vehicle for Bullock meaning she’s the star and she got it made.
I swear a psychologist could write dissertations on this thread.
@wpony714 " I think it makes more sense that the reason they got involved legally at all is simple....they wanted him to go to Ole Miss."
That is exactly what I think too. Attaching the narrative of some sinister foresight of making a bunch of money of him borders on the absurd. They just helped someone out that could likely help out their favorite college team. Sounds like a win/win to me. Or at least it did... I can't help but wonder how many people the Touys (i can't spell that name either) will help out in the future now though. The classic saying "no good deed goes unpunished" comes to mind.
Sure, this scenario is entirely plausible but also still horrendously bad. Tuohys invite a 5-star football recruit into their home for his senior season with the hopes they can convince him to go to their alma mater. That’s a transactional relationship but could still benefit Oher. However, that isn’t actually what they did. They tricked him into a conservatorship guaranteeing they could get him into Ole Miss no matter what. They could void any paperwork for other schools he might sign and sign for him instead. Giving up your right to autonomy to someone in exchange for a place to stay for a year is not a fair exchange and I don’t see how you and @RxDawg can think that’s even remotely ok to do.
It is possible they initially only had plans to make sure they could get him to Ole Miss through legal chicanery, but I do believe Oher chose Ole Miss because he probably liked the Tuohys and with their coaxing went there of his own volition. They do still have the conservatorship though and a close friend that writes books for a living, so maybe they could get themselves famous. Like others have said they had money at this point but they didn’t have fame. Without having to deal with Oher they were able to get a book published and a movie deal finalized within three years of the conservatorship. If they were making financially poor decisions to get a book and movie out faster for their own fame that also puts them in violation of the conservatorship. They had a fiduciary responsibility to Oher and have to enter deals that maximize his financial benefit. They also allowed a movie that made him look bad get produced without setting the record straight after either. Definitely not something in his interest.
Yeah they were never gonna mess with Oher’s NFL contracts. There was no way that could mess with those and not get exposed immediately. NFL legal teams would have gotten involved at that point because it’s very obvious that Oher didn’t need (or ever need) a conservatorship.
Yeah it’s obvious Oher is using his book tour to first get the media’s attention and then file the lawsuit while he has their attention for increased publicity of the lawsuit. It’s part of a pressure campaign to get the Tuohys to cooperate.
Maybe the Tuohys planned this from the beginning or their plans evolved naturally over time. They could have made money off Oher or they were just trading his name for their own fame. We’ll find out from the lawsuit since all he is asking for is to end the conservatorship and have a proper accounting of the finances they were supposed to handle for him. No matter how you slice it though, the Tuohys come out looking like scum.
Can always count on you to defend the indefensible
Never have said anything the Tuohy's did was "okay". I have questioned their motivation several times. What I haven't done is presume the facts because nobody really knows them yet in terms of what legally matters.
You said earlier that the Tuohys had significant input to the movie script. Where is your proof of that? They are not listed as contributors to either the script or screenplay. If they had a lot of input or say-so, it would be acknowledged so they could, you know, get more money.
You give the Tuohys both too much credit and not enough credit at the same time. They are an integral part of the story. No Tuohys, no Blind Side. But somehow they are masterminds at the game of conservatorships and chasing fame. Why didn't they find another kid with similar issues and just replicate the process? Double the fun, double the money, double the fame.
If a conservatorship was in place, then either Oher knew about it and consulted the Tuohys before signing or perhaps his NFL contract was void since the Tuohy's didn't sign it. As a college grad on the Dean's list, he would have either known about the conservatorship and gotten their approval, or he really had no idea and the contract was not legal.
I can't say they look like scum because the facts that matter have not been made public. Both sides look sketchy at best.
What we already know is bad. I've said this a bunch, but there was absolutely zero reason for him to be put into a conservatorship and made their ward. Add in all the lies they've told, and it's already a horrendous look for the Tuohys.
Sean Tuohy himself is the proof. He was on an episode of Below Deck in 2017 which is about rich people on yachts and a question about the how the movie got made came up. He said Steven Spielberg and Harvey Weinstein asked him for the rights to their names before they would start producing the movie, and Sean said he wanted to read the script first before signing over the rights. Several weeks later he got the script in the mail. So he claims. The dude is a liar so I'm sure there are embellishments here, but having input/veto power on the script seems believable.
I've never said they are masterminds. I believe the opposite in fact. They seem to be quite dumb but being rich and connected helps mask that. I believe they just happened to be in a position to take advantage of a rare opportunity and did so. It's probably not something they were actively seeking out or would even attempt to replicate again. I think they are way less important to the story than Oher and any claim they have some sort of equal claim to importance is laughable.
This is the strongest pro-Tuohy argument and it still falls very short. No one would think that someone like Oher would even be under a conservatorship. It's just not something these NFL teams would even consider when negotiating with Oher. Also conservatorships are not magic that make someone's name disappear from a contract to void it. The enforcement mechanism would be through the court system, where the conservators would file to have the contract voided otherwise there really isn't anything to keep the contractual obligations from being upheld. My feeling is the Tuohys would have been absolutely destroyed if they took an active role in those decisions, but who knows maybe they did and that comes out later. I highly doubt it though.
They are scum.