One month after Michael Oher filed a petition accusing a Tennessee couple of tricking him into believing they adopted him, a judge has ruled to end the family’s conservatorship over the former NFL offensive tackle.
Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy’s relationship with Oher, which inspired the 2009 film The Blind Side, has been the subject of controversy since August when the former first-round pick first publicly accused the family of misleading him for financial gain. On Friday, Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes announced that she was terminating the conservatorship agreement, which gave the couple the legal authority to make business deals in his name.
Oher, who signed the agreement when he was 18-years-old in 2004, has claimed he was under the impression that the couple was legally adopting him as their son when he signed the conservatorship as he lived with the family while he was in high school. In announcing the termination of the agreement, Judge Gomes expressed surprise that the conservatorship, which is typically reserved for cases involving medical conditions or disabilities was approved.
“I cannot believe it got done,” she said, according to The Associated Press.
Despite the termination of the conservatorship, the case remains ongoing, with the 37-year-old Oher seeking a financial accounting of the money he says the family made off his name and story. The Tuohy family has denied any wrongdoing, calling the claims against them by Oher “a shakedown.”
The Baltimore Ravens selected Oher out of Ole Miss with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He appeared 110 games (all starts) over the course of an eight-year NFL career, which included stints with the Ravens (2009-2013), Tennessee Titans (2014) and Carolina Panthers (2015-2016). The two-time All-SEC selection started at right tackle for Baltimore in its 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
