What Is Michael Oher's Net Worth and Salary?
Michael Oher is an American football offensive tackle who has a net worth of $12 million. Michael Oher was a homeless teenager who was taken in by a wealthy family and eventually became a star offensive tackle in college and the NFL. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft and helped the team win Super Bowl XLVII in his rookie season. Oher played for the Ravens for four seasons before signing with the Tennessee Titans in 2014. He played for the Titans for two seasons before signing with the Carolina Panthers in 2017. Oher retired from the NFL in 2017.
As you probably know, Michael Oher's personal story was chronicled in the Academy Award-winning 2009 film "The Blind Side," which starred Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as his adoptive parents, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy. The role of Michael was played by Quinton Aaron.
Contracts, Salary, and Career Earnings
During his NFL career, Michael Oher earned a total of $34 million in salary.
Upon entering the league, he signed a 5-year, $13.495 million deal with the Ravens that came with $6.88 million guaranteed. In his rookie season, he made $310,000 and earned a $942,000 signing bonus.
Ahead of the 2014 season, Michael signed a 4-year, $20 million contract with the Tennessee Titans that came with a $4 million signing bonus and $9.35 million guaranteed. He was released by the Titans in February 2015 and subsequently signed a 2-year, $7 million deal with the Carolina Panthers that came with a $2.5 million bonus and $2.5 million guaranteed.
His final NFL contract was a 3-year $21.6 million deal with the Panthers, signed in 2016, that came with a $4 million signing bonus and $9.5 million guaranteed. He was released by the Panthers in July 2017 after failing a physical.
2023 Complaint Against the Tuohy Family
On August 14, 2023, it was revealed that Michael had filed a bombshell petition to a Tennessee court that claimed the central storyline of "The Blind Side" was a lie "concocted" by the family to enrich themselves at his expense. The petition requested to end Sean and Leigh Anne's conservatorship, to pay him a fair share of profits from the film, compensatory and punitive damages and that the couple be barred from using his name in future projects.
Among other shocking allegations, Michael's petition claimed that he was never actually adopted by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and was instead put under a conservatorship. This is important because under a conservatorship, he did not have a familial relationship with the Tuohys, and the family was able to strike deals in his name, allegedly without providing him a share of royalties that were generated by the movie and other media that features his name and likeness. The petition claimed that the family struck a deal that paid both Tuohy parents and two children, Sean Jr. and Collins, $225,000 plus 2.5% of "defined net proceeds" earned off "The Blind Side" at the box office, DVD sales, and streaming revenue.
"The Blind Side" generated $300 million at the box office on a budget of $30 million. Based on average film profit breakouts, one could presume that there were at least $150 million in net proceeds. If that was correct, the four Tuohys each presumably received $225,000 PLUS $3.75 million in royalties over time just on the box office, not including DVD and streaming revenue.
Michael's petition claimed that he did not earn anything from the money while the family made millions of dollars. Furthermore, Oher claimed the family had him sign a contract in 2007 that gave 20th Century Fox the life rights to his story "without any payment whatsoever."
This contradicts what Leigh Anne said in her 2010 book "In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving." In that book, Leigh Anne claimed they split the money from the movie "five ways." However, Michael's petition claims he never received any money from the movie at all.
"The Blind Side" Royalties
In the wake of his allegations, Alcon, the movie studio that produced "The Blind Side," released a statement that revealed exactly how much it had paid to Oher and the Tuoys. From the statement:
"Alcon has paid approximately $767,000 to the talent agency that represents the Tuohy family and Michael Oher."… The agency, presumably, took a 10% commission before passing the royalties on… "We anticipate that the Tuohy family and Michael Oher will receive additional profits as audiences continue to enjoy this true story in the years to come."
Doing a quick bit of math, after the talent agency took a 10% cut we are left with $690,000 split by the four members of the Tuohy family and Michael Oher. That's $138,000 per person, pre-tax.
(Photo by Ned Dishman/Getty Images)
Early Life
Michael Oher was born on May 28, 1986, in Memphis, Tennessee. Michael is the son of Denise Oher, who was an alcoholic and crack cocaine addict, and Michael Jerome Williams, who was frequently in prison. Due to his upbringing, Michael received little attention or discipline during his childhood. He repeated both first and second grades and attended eleven different schools during his first nine years as a student. He was placed in foster care at age seven and alternated between living in various foster homes and periods of homelessness. His biological father was a former cellmate of Denise Oher's brother and was murdered in prison when Michael was a senior in high school. A young Michael Oher was finally taken in by Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy when he was 16, and the Tuohys became his legal guardians when he was 17. They hired a tutor for Michael who worked with him on schoolwork for 20 hours a week.
High School
Oher began playing football during his freshman year at a public high school in Memphis. In his junior year, he began to excel in football. Michael was named Division II Lineman of the Year in 2003 and First Team Tennessee All-State. He also earned two letters each in both track and basketball. By the beginning of his senior year, Oher was the starting left tackle on the varsity football team. He was a state runner-up in the discus as a senior. Oher's low grades were initially a barrier to his acceptance to an NCAA program, but he eventually increased his 0.76 GPA to a 2.52 GPA in order to attend a Division 1 school. He did this by taking online classes from Brigham Young University and replacing his Ds and Fs earned in earlier classes with As until he finally raised his graduating GPA over the required minimum. Michael quickly became a top football prospect in the state of Tennessee, which led to multiple scholarship offers from Division 1 schools. He ultimately chose to play college football with the Ole Miss Rebels at the University of Mississippi, but he had received scholarship offers from Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, and South Carolina.
College Career
Oher started in ten games as a guard during his premiere season with the Ole Miss Rebels. He quickly became a first-team freshman All-American. After he shifted to the position of left tackle for the 2006 season, Michael was named to various preseason All-Conference and All-American teams. He was also named a second-team Southeastern Conference offensive lineman after his second year and a first-team SEC offensive lineman after his junior year. Oher also thrived academically at Ole Miss, and his tested IQ score increased by 30 points between when he was measured growing up and then measured in college. He made the honor roll in his sophomore year. In January 2008, Oher declared he would be leaving school to enter the 2008 NFL draft. However, he announced his withdrawal from the draft just two days later to return to Ole Miss for his senior year. After the 2008 season, Michael was recognized unanimously as a first-team All-American and made the honor roll for the second time in his college career. He graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice in the spring of 2009. He walked away from his college football career with over a dozen awards and prestigious honors for the sport.
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Pro Career
Even before he graduated, Oher was already projected as one of the top prospects for the 2009 NFL Draft. The Baltimore Ravens drafted him with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. The Ravens had acquired the pick from the New England Patriots in exchange for their first and fifth-round draft picks. His adoptive family, the Tuohys, were able to be there to witness his draft day selection. On July 30, 2009, Michael signed a five-year, $13.8 million contract with the Ravens. He started the 2009 season as a right tackle but was moved to left tackle after an injury to lineman Jared Gaither, and in eight weeks, Oher returned to right tackle. He started every game in 2009, switching between right and left tackle. In his first post-season game in January 2010 against the New England Patriots, he played right tackle and did not allow a single sack, helping the Ravens to a 33-13 win. Michael was second in the voting for the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award with six votes. In February 2013, Oher won his first Super Bowl ring after the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII.
In March 2014, Oher signed a four-year, $20 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. He started eleven games for the Titans and was placed on injured reserve on December 13 after he missed two prior games due to a toe injury. He was named the 74th-best tackle out of 78 by Pro Football Focus for the 2014 season. Oher was released by the Titans on February 5, 2015.
One month later, he signed a two-year, $7 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. Oher cited Cam Newton as an influential factor in his decision to sign with Carolina. He ended up playing one of his best seasons as a professional, protecting Newton's blind side. He was the starting left tackle going into the season, despite his struggles in Tennessee, with the Panthers GM Dave Gettleman stating: "We did our homework on Michael, and we feel very strongly that he can be an answer for us. He'll be inserted at left tackle, and we'll go from there." Oher played in 98.4% of the team's snaps and was penalized only three times for 25 yards.
Oher was part of the Panthers team that played in the Super Bowl on February 7, 2016, falling to the Denver Broncos by a score of 24-10.
In June 2016, Oher signed a three-year contract extension with the Panthers worth $21.6 million with $9.5 million guaranteed. He suffered a concussion just three games into the season and was placed on injured reserve on November 25, 2016. He was unfortunately released by the Panthers on July 20, 2017 after a failed physical.
Personal Life
Michael Oher started dating Tiffany Roy after first meeting at the University of Mississippi. The couple has four children together: two daughters and two sons. They got engaged in July 2021 and married on November 5, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee, after 17 years together.
Despite the success of "The Blind Side" movie, Oher was disappointed with the film, saying it negatively affected his football career. In his 2011 autobiography "I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to 'The Blind Side' and Beyond," Michael stated he was much more extroverted than portrayed on screen and that his football knowledge existed well before the Tuohys came into his life.
In May 2014, Oher purchased a Brentwood home for $1.3 million after joining the Tennessee Titans.
