Michael Oher could have ended conservatorship anytime after 2011: court docs
Michael Oher could have ended his conservatorship anytime after 2011, by which time his NFL contract made him worth $13.5 million.
The Super Bowl-winning player was 18 when he signed an agreement to appoint Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy as his legal guardians on Aug. 9, 2004.
“It is still his desire that the Petitioners be recognized as his legal guardians at least until he reaches the age of 25 or until terminated by order of this court prior to that time,” according to the ninr-page document obtained by The Post.
“He is in need of their assistance and guidance and continued to be dependent upon them … As he has reached the age of 18 he seeks to have them appointed as his conservators for all purposes.”
Timothy Street, a Tennessee-based attorney who handles conservatorship cases, said Oher — now 37— could have “at any point” asked the judge to terminate the conservatorship.
“If you had enough financial savvy to sign a multimillion-dollar contract with the NFL, you have to have enough savvy to know whether or not you want to remain in a conservatorship. They won’t let you sign a contract like that if you’re slobbering all over yourself,” Street said.
Oher, who was drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens, was 23 at the time he signed his contract in 2009.
The 2004 petition goes on to say a licensed physician who examined Oher concluded the teen had “no known physical or psychological disabilities.”
However, it gave the Tuohys “all powers of attorney to act on his behalf,” and specified he cannot enter into any contracts without their approval.
This week Oher filed new papers with the Probate Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, demanding to see 19 years of the Touhys’ accounting, after his earlier bombshell accusation that they had made millions off his name through the movie “The Blind Side” and not paid him for it. He also asked the judge to terminate the conservatorship.
The original 2004 petition does not include any language addressing Oher’s finances or future assets and how they should be accounted for.
“At the time he entered into this, there was probably no need for an accounting so the court didn’t ask or require one,” Street said.
“So if [the Tuohys] didn’t file an accounting, there was nothing making them do that as far as I can see. The statute could have required it and they just didn’t do it.”
The petition states Oher had “no estate” at the time of the 2004 signing, when he was 18 years old and still living with the family. Oher’s mother also agreed to and signed the petition.
During his eight-year NFL career playing for the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, Oher made over $34 million, according to Spotrac.
“At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control of all his contracts, and as a result Michael did not understand that if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself,” Oher’s attorney wrote in his recent complaint.
“Michael was falsely advised by the Tuohys that because he was over the age of eighteen, that the legal action to adopt Michael would have to be called a ‘conservatorship’ but it was, for all intents and purposes, an adoption.”
Oher also said the Tuohys have continuously “falsely and publicly” represented themselves as his adoptive parents and points out that the family still uses his name and pictures to promote their website and foundation.
Oher also claims the signature on 2007 contracts where he agreed to sign over his life rights for “The Blind Side” may not be his.
“Michael Oher believes that the signature on this document is very similar to his own, and he does not know whether the signature was forged,” his attorney wrote in the Aug. 14 complaint.
Producers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, co-founders of Alcon Entertainment — the company that financed “The Blind Side” — said in a statement to Deadline their company paid about $767,000 to the talent agency that represented the Tuohys and Oher.
They also addressed Oher’s claims that he was not aware how much he was supposed to receive when he signed his life rights away to Twentieth Century Fox, which initially financed the film until Alcon took over.
“It is important to note that in 2006, the nature of life rights deals for books, documentaries and film, as well as the limitations of what college athletes were able to do and maintain eligibility, were very different from what they are today,” the producers said in the statement. “Comparing them to today’s marketplace for those rights is akin to comparing a basketball Hall of Famer’s deal from 25 years ago to the nine-figure deals that are prevalent in today’s NBA.
“The deal that was made by Fox for the Tuohys’ and Michael Oher’s life rights was consistent with the marketplace at that time for the rights of relatively unknown individuals. Therefore, it did not include significant payouts in the event of the film’s success.”
The film grossed over $309 million worldwide and garnered an Oscar win for actress Sandra Bullock, who played Leigh Anne Tuohy in the blockbuster movie.
Street said that according to the 2004 petition, the Tuohys still have legal control over Oher’s name and likeness.
Nothing was filed in the case between 2004 and this year, when Oher filed his claims.
“If they misallocated a bunch of money and they had a fiduciary duty to protect him, they won’t have the light of justice,” Street said.
Sean Tuohy has dismissed the idea his family profited greatly from the movie.
He said Oher and the rest of the family, including his wife, son and daughter, only made about $14,000 each.
“I will say it’s upsetting that people would think I would want to make money off any of my children,” Sean Tuohy told the newspaper the Daily Memphian.
