MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis couple who took in former NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher when he was in high school denied in court documents filed Thursday that they used a legal agreement between them to get rich at his expense and lied about intending to adopt him.
In Tennessee, a conservatorship removes power from a person to make decisions for themselves, and it is often used in the case of a medical condition or disability. Leigh Ann Tuohy and Sean Tuohy arrives during the 82nd Academy Awards, March 7, 2010. The Memphis couple who took in former NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher when he was in high school denied in court documents filed Thursday that they used a legal agreement between them to get rich at his expense and lied about intending to adopt him.
The Tuohys said the conservatorship was the tool chosen to comply with NCAA rules that would have kept Oher from attending the University of Mississippi, where Sean Tuohy had been a standout basketball player. Agents negotiated a small advance for the Tuohys from the production company for "The Blind Side," based on a book written by Sean Tuohy's friend Michael Lewis, the couple's lawyers have said. That included "a tiny percentage of net profits" divided equally among a group that included Oher, they said.