Michael Oher Net Worth: How Much Does ‘The Blind Side’ Lineman Earn?

Mr. Michael Oher is a wealthy football offensive tackle from the United States, with a net worth of $16 million. Oher's life story was depicted in the Academy Award-winning film “The Blind Side,” which starred Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw and was released in 2009. Quinton Aaron took up the role of Michael in the film.

Net Worth: $16 Million
Salary: $2.7 Million Per Year
Date of Birth: May 28, 1986 (35 years old)
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.93 m)
Profession: American football player, Athlete
Nationality: United States of America

Early Life and Career

Michael Oher was born on May 28, 1986, in Memphis, Tennessee, to a family of four. Oher's mother, Denise Oher, was an alcoholic and a crack cocaine addict, and his father, Michael Jerome Williams, was a convicted felon who spent a lot of time in prison.

Because of his upbringing, he did not receive much attention or discipline during his early childhood. During his first nine years of school, he went to eleven different schools, repeating both first and second grades on the way to graduation.

Since entering foster care at the age of seven, he has alternated between living in different foster homes and experiencing periods of homelessness. Oher's biological father was a former cellmate of Denise Oher's brother and was murdered in prison when Oher was a senior in high school.

Denise Oher was the victim of the murder. When Michael Oher was 16, he was finally taken in by Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and the Tuohys were appointed as Oher's legal guardians when he was seventeen. They hired a tutor for Oher, who spent 20 hours a week working with him on his academics.

 

When Oher started his freshman year at a public high school in Memphis, he was a freshman quarterback. Oher began to show signs of improvement in football during his junior year. Oher was selected Division II Lineman of the Year in 2003, and he was also chosen to the First Team of the Tennessee All-State team that year.

In addition, he received two letters in each of the sports of track and basketball. By the beginning of his senior year, Oher had earned a starting position on the varsity football team as the left tackle.

As a senior, he finished second in the discus in the state championships. Oher's poor academic performance initially prevented him from being accepted into an NCAA program, but he gradually improved his 0.76-grade point average to a 2.52-grade point average to enter a Division 1 institution.

He accomplished this by enrolling in online courses offered by Brigham Young University and replacing the Ds and Fs he had received in prior semesters with As until he was able to boost his overall grade point average beyond the needed level.

He immediately rose to the top of the state's football recruiting rankings, earning many scholarships offers from Division I colleges and universities around the country. The University of Mississippi's Ole Miss Rebels were his final choice, but he had also gotten scholarship offers from Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, and South Carolina before deciding on the Ole Miss Rebels.

College Career

During his first season with the Ole Miss Rebels, Oher appeared in ten games as a guard and made one start. He rose fast through the ranks to become a first-team freshman All-American.

During the 2006 season, Oher was chosen to several preseason All-Conference and All-American lists after switching to the left tackle position. Additionally, after his sophomore season, he was named to the Southeastern Conference's second-team offensive linemen, and after his junior season, he was chosen to the SEC's first-team offensive linemen.

Oher also excelled academically at Ole Miss, with his tested IQ increasing by 30 points between the time he was assessed as a child and the time he was measured as a college freshman.

In his sophomore year, he was named to the honor roll. Oher said in January 2008 that he will be skipping school to pursue the NFL draught 2008. Two days later, he revealed his intention to return to Ole Miss for his senior year, thereby withdrawing from the draughting process.

After the 2008 season, Oher was named to the first-team All-American team by a unanimous vote, and he was named to the honor list for the second time in his college career.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree in the spring of 2009. A total of more than a dozen accolades and notable distinctions for the sport were bestowed upon him as he completed his college football career.

READ MORE:

Mads Mikkelsen Net Worth: How Much Money Does the Danish Actor Have?

What Is Blac Chyna’s Net Worth? (Updated April 2022)

Is Netflix Planning to Release Cocomelon Season 5 at Any Point in the Future?

Pro Career

Even before he graduated, Oher was already being tipped as one of the top prospects for the 2009 NFL Draft by several experts. Oher was selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

It was the New England Patriots that had traded the pick to the Baltimore Ravens in return for their first and fifth-round draught picks, respectively. His adopted family, the Tuohys, were present to see his selection in the first round of the NFL Draft.

On July 30, 2009, he agreed to terms with the Ravens that included a five-year, 13.8 million dollar contract. Although he began the 2009 season as a right tackle, after lineman Jaither suffered an injury, Oher was shifted to left tackle and returned to the right tackle position after only eight weeks.

In 2009, Oher started every game at right tackle and alternated between the positions at left tackle and right tackle. In his first post-season game, against the New England Patriots, in January 2010, he played right tackle and did not allow a single sack, assisting the Ravens to a 33-13 victory over the visitors.

In the Associated Press' NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, Oher received six votes, placing him in second place overall. Oher received his first Super Bowl ring in February 2013, after the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII in Baltimore.

Oher signed a four-year, 20 million dollar contract with the Tennessee Titans in March of 2014. He appeared in eleven games with the Titans before being placed on injured reserve on December 13 after suffering a toe injury that kept him out of the previous two games.

Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 74th best tackle in the NFL for the 2014 season out of 78 players. On February 5, 2015, the Titans terminated Oher from his contract. One month later, he agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers on a two-year deal worth 7 million dollars.

Oher acknowledged Carolina quarterback Cam Newton as a key component in his choice to sign with the Panthers, and he ended up having one of his greatest seasons as a pro by shielding Newton's blindside.

Despite his failures in Tennessee, he was the Panthers' starting left tackle heading into the season, according to general manager Dave Gettleman, who stated: “We've done our research on Michael, and we're confident that he can provide us with the solution we're looking for.

We'll put him in at left tackle and see where things go from there.” Oher was on the field for 98.4 percent of the team's snaps and was only penalized three times for a total of 25 yards.

Oher was a member of the Carolina Panthers squad that competed in the Super Bowl on February 7, 2016, when they were defeated by the Denver Broncos by a score of 24 to 10. With the Panthers, Oher agreed to a three-year contract extension in June 2016 for $21.6 million, with $9.5 million of that amount guaranteed.

With only three games into the season, he suffered a concussion and was forced to enter the injured reserve list on November 25, 2016. He was regretfully dismissed by the Panthers on July 20, 2017, after failing a physical examination conducted by the team. According to Oher, he will be residing in a mansion in Baltimore that he purchased with his hard-earned NFL cash as of 2020.