MOUNT VERNON — “O-H!” With those two letters so familiar to those in the Buckeye state, Michael Oher, retired NFL star and Super Bowl champion, smiled as the nearly 1,500 gathered in the R.R. Hodges Chapel and Fine Art Center answered back “I-O.”
Oher, who, in addition to his exploits on the gridiron had the movie “The Blind Side” patterned after his life. Oher told those gathered that as a10-year-old, life had already dealt him a potentially a losing hand.
From that hardscrabble beginning he recounted his journey on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University as the final speaker Wednesday night for the Tragedy to Triumph series.
Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy spotted the young man living on the street and decided to help.
“People ask me what (thee Touhys) did for me and what really started my journey. I guess I was just tired, I had just spent a year on the streets, and I was tired,” Oher said.
Oher said meeting the family was the best time of his young life.
“I had three meals. I had a bed. They let me watch VHS movies (that brought a laugh of nostalgia from the audience),” Oher said. “I was here and I didn’t want to leave.”
Even with the comfort Oher felt, there was still the twinge of uncertainty that his time on the street had left him with emotional scars.
When a bit of normalcy found its way back into the youngster’s life, he finally made it back to school.
“I was so far behind, I was 11 years old and I started off in the third grade,” he said.
One advantage Oher had was his hunger for learning, among other things.
“I loved going to school. I loved being in the classroom,” Oher said. “I knew I was going to have breakfast and lunch, see I’m a big guy and I like to eat,” eliciting another laugh from those gathered.
Oher said that education helped him understand more about life.
“When I started to school, I realized what I needed to do. I started selling newspapers on the street. With my first money, I bought an alarm clock, the kind with bells on top, it helped me, you get up and get going.”
About the ninth grade, Oher began to grow into the giant of a man he would become.
“My humble body grew, becoming a giant compared to my classmates,” he said. “It may have been God’s place in my life, but after school, I fell in love with the game (football).”
That love affair eventually shaped Oher’s future.
“I went to visit after visit, including Oklahoma and LSU, but ultimately it was and, excuse me guys it was Ole Miss,” he said to the partisan Ohio State crowd.
Eventually, his talent on the football field was so obvious that he was drafted in the first round, 23rd pick in the 2009 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens. In 2013 the offensive tackle helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII.
In 2015, playing with the Carolina Panthers, Oher once again took the field in the Super Bowl, but this time his team fell short. In 2016 he suffered a concussion and in 2017 his eight-year career ended.
Oher knew it was important to give back.
“I started my foundation to help kids avoid the things I had to go through,” he said. “Together we can lift each other up.”
After his strong start with the Ohio audience, Oher had one more thing to say.
“Ohio is great, but we’re going to bring the national championship back to the SEC,” Oher said.