Michael Oher and His Inspirational Story

The path to becoming a top NFL draft pick is filled with many challenges. It’s likely that no pick faced as many challenges as Michael Oher (pronounced Oar). When Michael was young, his father was not involved in his life and his mother was dealing with a drug addiction problem. Michael was left to fend for himself at the tender age of 7-years-old.

There wasn’t a parent or adult to attend to his basic needs like food and shelter, let alone to encourage him at school and tend to his emotional needs. Growing up in poor, inner-city Memphis, Michael had to scramble for himself for something to eat and a place to sleep each night. He stayed at foster homes, and with relatives and friends. Most of the time, he fended for himself. He struggled at school. He repeated grades because of lack of progress. At the age of 15, Michael was way behind in essential skills like reading. Physically, he had grown to be a very big kid as he stood about 6’5″ tall and weighed over 300 pounds.

After staying with a friend one night, the friend’s father was intent on taking his son to a private school to gain admission. Michael tagged along, and despite concerns from the school about his academic progress, was also accepted. When the Tuohy family, who had a daughter attending the school, saw him heading to the school gym on a snowy day with just shorts and a shirt because the gym was well-heated, they started helping Michael out.

As the private high school didn’t provide free lunches, the Tuohy family supported Michael by buying his lunches. They bought him clothes. Recognizing that like other kids, Michael needed support that went beyond physical needs, they ended up offering Michael a place to stay and encouragement. Ultimately, they adopted Michael.

After he made great strides in improving his academic work, Michael went out for the football team. His size, speed and athleticism quickly stood out. An ESPN analyst ranked him the #1 offensive line prospect in high school his senior year. College scouts were impressed and Michael had many scholarships to choose from. Michael chose the University of Mississippi. After his senior season, he was selected for the AP All-American first team. Academically, Michael was on the honor roll a couple times at Ole Miss. He reported at the NFL combine that he’s only about 18 hours short of graduating from the University.