[music playing] the Baltimore Ravens select michael oher, Offensive Tackle, mississippi. When the nfl draft came around in 2009, michael oher brought the tuohys to his Introductory Press Conference and introduced them as kind of his parents, which he thought they were. They meant a lot to me. I dont think id be here without them. They showed me a lot of things. They taught me a lot. So i owe them everything. Michael, do you want to introduce them . Sure. You got my dad, sean tuohy, on the first row seat. Mom, Leigh Anne Tuohy, brother sean, and collins, older sis. Theres always 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 truths in every story. If i looked at this story, i would say, its about a young man who had his voice taken from him early on. Do you have any place to stay tonight . Dont you dare lie to me. The blind side told this story in a very boiled down way of michael oher, A Young Black Kid coming from the projects of memphis, from a dysfunctional family, who is embraced and eventually adopted by this white family thats wealthy. They were kind of taking them like they were accepting him to be a part of this family. Were going to hold hands as a unit, were going to pray together at dinner and kind of make it official. And they teach him what he needs to know academically and more importantly for the film about football. Tony heres your quarterback, all right . You protect his blind side. When you look at him, you think of me, how you have my back, how you have his, ok . He was like, man, that movie, that movie it was more of a hurdle that he had to continuously jump every day. Let me show you that im really not dumb. Let me show you that im really not shy and timid. Let me show you how i really am. And the older he got, the less comfortable he got with buying in and leaning in to a narrative. That just wasnt true from his perspective. And probably with the help of others, decided enough is enough. Michael oher claims a key part of his life story was a lie. Suing the family who said they adopted him. They blindsided him from the start. [siren wailing] [chatter] The Blind Side is the underdog hit of the film world this season. Its a hollywood script no one would believe if it werent true. You could just see how well done it was going to be. And i think in our country about what family is, we dont take care of it enough. And i think we got to get back to that because i think weve unraveled ourselves a little bit. So you look at them and you go you feel guilty that youre not as good at it as they are. Sandra bullock played Leigh Anne Tuohy and tim mcgraw played sean tuohy. I played michael oher. The movie made a huge splash when it came out. The film, The Blind Side, has already taken in over 100 million in theaters. It took in nearly 300 million worldwide. It became, for america, a heartwarming tale of how our racial barriers have begun to collapse. There was certainly, i would say, a feeling that we had achieved sort of a postracial society. Congratulations, mr. President. [cheering] we had the first africanamerican president who was elected on the back of many white votes. And Many Americans felt like, gosh, finally, were getting over this nightmare of race in america. Are we postracial . The politics of racial grievance die tonight. And the film played right into that because you have the tuohys, this white southern family, they live in memphis, the place where dr. King was assassinated. And they saw it fit in their hearts to embrace this hulking 65 300 pound man and officially made him part of their family. Thats the story that america thought they were watching. The movie was everywhere, everywhere. The tuohys were everywhere. Everyone wanted to have a piece of the tuohys story. Were joined now by the tuohy family live from their home in memphis, tennessee. Thats leigh anne, sean whos a dead ringer for tim mcgraw, sean jr. , they call him sj, and their beautiful daughter collins. And they go on good morning america, arguably the biggest morning audience that you can ever have. And to be on a platform that large really does put you in a stratosphere so different than others. Sean and leigh anne, how true is this story to what really happened, leigh anne . I think its pretty accurate. I mean, i dont have a big basis for a lot of other hollywood movies. But as far as this one goes, The Blind Side and with our family, i think they did a great job of keeping it authentic and accurate. They really did. Sandra, sandra lo and behold, its not only a commercial hit, but its considered an artistic hit. And the winner is Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side. Being at the oscars, that itself was wow. When i saw sandra get the oscar, it was amazing. Her speech was always uplifting, funny, and to the point. To the family that allowed me to play them, the tuohy family, i know theyre in here and youll probably hear her in a minute. So i would like to thank what this film was about for me, which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. When Sandra Bullock won the oscar, it legitimized the story. And Leigh Anne Tuohy and her husband sean were the ambassadors of what it looks like to be kind and to be generous and to be christian. Thank you for coming out. Leigh anne tuohy and her husband sean became media darlings. The real Leigh Anne Tuohy. Leigh anne tuohy. Leigh anne tuohy. This is Leigh Anne Tuohy. Leigh anne tuohy. Leigh anne tuohy joins us now. Leigh anne joins us this morning. Nice to see you. Leigh anne tuohy speaks from experience. Shes the mother whose Real Life Story Of Adoption was turned into the oscar winning movie The Blind Side. She became a star in her own right. I felt that it was odd. Michael was not around for the promotion of the film. But his world wasnt movies and film and tv. His world was football. And so that was more important to him at the time. Has he seen the movie yet or hes been too busy . He just had no time. I mean, he hadnt had no time. Hes been busy. Hes been very busy. Also, i didnt think he wanted to be an advocate for something that he didnt feel portrayed him in a light he wanted to be in. I cannot deny the fact that michael oher has been outspoken about what he thought about the film early in his career. Although he was very careful about how he criticized the film youve got, in an odd way, some celebrity status coming in even as a rookie. Are you comfortable with that . I really dont see it like that. I mean, i feel like im just a regular person. When i interviewed michael during his rookie year and one of the things that he expressed to me was he was not ranting and raving i didnt like this, i hated it, i got a big problem. But it was that he was portrayed as unsophisticated, unschooled can we just go home and play some video games . Look, everybody at wingate is expecting me to be a star football player. You dont want to let them down, do you . And unable without the help of the tuohy family and his benign coaches to have made his way in the world. Also, it wasnt his truth. Its not anything like reality. He says, if all about is what you saw in that movie, you dont know the real story at all. Whatever you see in the movie or books youve read, you have to understand what it took for me to be this 18yearold kid when this story started to take shape. The neighborhood we grew up in, well grab a ball and go anywhere. We shoot on a crate, basketball rim. Anything we could put a circle in and put a ball through, we would play on it. Our foster mother, ms. Velma, she didnt push sports. Like around our time of coming up, it was more education than anything. It was more so about look, if you dont get your education, youre not going to make it. When you speak ms. Velma jones name, youre going to always find some sun at the end of the tunnel with it. When michael and his Brother Carlos came, they was real quiet, real respectful. Being good kids, they wanted to learn. They paid attention and they didnt want to be excluded from activities. For anyone whos never been in foster care, the one thing you want is a family. To feel like i belong and you want me here. We were blessed to be around a parent that cared about us enough that whatever it was we wanted to do, she tried to have it for us, she provided for us. Its mine . Yes, sir. What . Never had one before. What, a room to yourself . A bed. That video is depicting something that didnt occur . No. Part of the restriction to being in foster homes you had to have your own space. You didnt necessarily have to have your own room. But even though we were biological brothers, we still had to have our own beds. Ok, i mean, when we were all growing up in foster care, none of us really sat around and discussed, hey, man, if i can have it my way, ill go back home with my mom. Oh, man, i would love to go back home with my dad. Michael basically grasped the concept that Everyone Else grasps this is not the end of your life. Let this be a step towards the beginning of a new life. All the kids in the neighborhood played ball for me. And everybody came and let me know that mike was the new kid in the neighborhood. Sports most kept him out of trouble. Thats the other stuff going on inside the neighborhood. When i met mike, mike was kind of with me and stayed with me a whole lot, you know. And he was just like part of the family. He was like part of the family. This is my house right here. This is the house i built right here. Mike was the first and only kid ever stayed with me. And when him and my son bonded, i mean, they were good friends. And they kind of kept mike out of problem a whole lot. He told me, dont leave him behind. I didnt leave them behind. I did what i had to do. That was tonys goal for mike was just to get him in a Better School where they value academics and where they have great coaches that motivate you and push you and get the best out of you. [music playing] when you look at the North Memphis and the briarcrest area, you have the difference in income, the education level, everythings different. And as we would call it, its like living on one side of the track and living on the other side of the track. Man, just driving up to the briarcrest campus, its amazing. Its almost like youre going to a university. Its top tier, its top of the line. Its just grand. The first time i met him, it was my sophomore year. He transferred in from another school. And with us being minorities, once you meet another guy thats africanamerican, you kind of gravitate towards each other. He was kind of a behind on his academics. So he had to get caught up to pace. After he got his feet on the ground, he took off, showing people that he could do the work and that he could do what it took to succeed. And how did the movie frame him . Well, actually, i really never really saw the movie. I saw like bits and pieces. I went to the movies to see it and i walked out. Can i show you a scene from the movie . Yes. Can i leave now . Yeah. Take your book. Thats crazy. Thats crazy. Thats my first time seeing that. He would have never done anything like that. Its kind of embarrassing. And im embarrassed for him as a friend. Its not accurate and its hurtful. Hes very smart. Hes capable, able to read, write. In the movie, it depicted a totally different person. He was charismatic. He was lovable. And sometimes, we would all come together and party together. The mike that i knew was outgoing, the jokester, the life of the room, just the type of guy that you wanted to be around. He eventually started spending the night at my house a couple of nights. It got to the point to where he was like, hey, man, think your dad would be all right with me moving in with yall . I didnt feel obligation to do it at all. Him and my son was friends. When someone asks you something that noble to come and live with you, that means they see something in you or they trust you and they believe in you. I never had a brother, like a brother my age. That was one of the best times of my life. Do you have any place to stay tonight . Dont you dare lie to me. Yeah, i saw that scene before. Its kind of one of the famous scenes from the movie. He lived with me before he moved in with that family. He had a shelter. Ive seen that look many times. Shes about to get her way. You had people that loved him, people that was looking out for him, people that was taking care of him. The blind side movie never depicted anything weve done for mike. But it wasnt a big deal because it wasnt about me. It was about mike. But even by it being about mike, the truth should have been told. Sometimes, hollywood takes certain creative liberties to tell a story in such a way that it can pique an audience. Hi. At the time we were filming, i wasnt really thinking about how it was portraying michael. I didnt know him. All i had to go on was the script. See, youre the ketchup here at left tackle on the weak side. For instance, he didnt need to be taught how to play football. He already knew how to play. Now see, this just means that youre going to block whoevers little sj, hes explaining it to him in such a way where its like, bro, how do you not know this. Like what are you seriously . What are you supposed to do . Im sorry about the part that i played in adding to his discomfort and the role that he watched. Me and michael were wanting to go get it. But in hollywood, you have to think about the audience that you want to shop and market this to. If that was me seeing me being portrayed like that, id be like, you know what, i need to talk to somebody because who told you i couldnt read, who told you i couldnt write, who told you i didnt know how to play football. 6 feet 5 inches, 350 pounds, runs a sub 5 flat. Ive seen taller guys, but i havent seen that many as muscular and wide as michael was at that stage. 18 years of age, he was phenomenal. [chatter] this is going to be a special year for this briercrest team. Briercrest offensive line, theyre led by a young guy named michael oher. Hes one of the top prospects in the entire united states. Michael oher is a man amongst little guys. He was fast, he was strong, he moved quick. Knowing that that guy was on your team was a good feeling. Look at the size difference you see. A great example of how big oher is. When youre an offensive lineman, to succeed, you got to be a little bit cerebral. And thats where michael comes in. He seemed to take naturally to the position. He dominated, and he dominated right away. He was known for his pancake blocks to where he was going to flatten you out. He gets it. Oh, huge hold. And touchdown, briarcrest. The mack truck might have gone through that. Getting to that championship was a fantastic feeling. Michael oher was becoming a star. 80 of the Top High SchoolFootball Players in the country. Michael oher is 347 pounds Offensive Tackle and remarkably athletic. I got him on the us army allamerica game, the Prep Football Report allamerican team, put him on everything. He was a consensus high school allamerican. Hes one of the top five Offensive Linemen nationally. Here on this sideline, ive got 10 coaches. And sean tuohy ole miss basketball great, all kinds of competitive athletes here. Sean tuohy was a Volunteer Football Coach at briarcrest. And so thats how he got a chance to meet mike. He was one of the coaches that used to bring mike to my house after practice. And he said, we live way closer to the school and you can just spend the night with us. Thats kind of how that relationship started. When michael was taken to the tuohys, michael didnt have much. And a lot was offered. I think for michael to accomplish some of his personal goals from 1 graduate from high school to maybe one day become a college athlete, there wasnt anyone better for michael to go in with than sean and leigh anne. The transition from mike living with me to living with them i spent a lot of time with the tuohys. They seem to be genuine people that cared about him, that cared about his success. I worked at Chickasaw Country club which the tuohys were members of. One day, i was working, and this big old person just comes up behind me and picks me up in the air. And im like, this guy is literally ragdolling me and its michael oher. And im like, whats going on, brother. And he introduced me to the tuohys as his big brother. Every time they would come to the club, hey, nate, how you doing, we want nate to come be a part of our party. I mean, it seemed to be all love. From what i saw, they were very nice people. The tuohys started calling them their son and a part of their family. I think that everyone thought that the tuohys had adopted michael. This is a passage from his first book. All right. Since i was already over the age of 18 and considered an adult by the state of tennessee, sean and leigh anne will be named as my legal conservators. They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as adoptive parents. Honestly, i didnt care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we werent legally what we already knew was real. We were a family. 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My junior year, going into my senior y