It was three years ago this week that Panthers left tackle Michael Oher declared he was sick of talking about "The Blind Side," a blockbuster film inspired by his real-life journey to the NFL.
"I'm tired of the movie," said Oher, then a starter for the Baltimore Ravens. "I'm here to play football. Football is what got me here, and the movie, it wasn't me. I always knew how to play football growing up. It was different personalities, stuff like that. Playing football is what got me to this point."
Three years later, Oher is back in the Super Bowl spotlight and you can be sure there he'll be faced with queries about "The Blind Side" over the next 10 days. Truth is, many national media members covering the big game are more interested in his tangential connection to actress Sandra Bullock than his ability to protect Cam Newton from Von Miller.
Oher, 29, is in on record saying he doesn't particularly like the film, taking issue with how he is portrayed in some scenes. But he seems like a man now at peace with his silver screen connection.
"I guess it's a good story. It's a great story," he said, via ESPN.com. "They helped me to get this point from what I can tell. They're my family and without them I wouldn't be here. They taught me a lot of things, showed me a lot of different things. It shows that if you help somebody and give somebody a chance and don't judge people look where they can get to."
In other Oher news, Newton told reporters on Wednesday about his offseason pitch to woo Oher to Charlotte in free agency.
"With the free agent pool, I've sent texts out before, called guys and said, 'We'd love for you to be part of the team.' But Mike was different," Newton said. "I didn't say, 'I want you to be here.' It was, 'I need you.' Thats different. Want and need are two different words, and that's what I used in that text, along with other explicit words before the 'need.' And I think he got the feeling from that."
Oher never lived up to the hype as a first-round pick in Baltimore and graded out as (by far) the worst run-blocking tackle in football this season, according to analytics site ProFootballFocus.com. But Oher was a sound blocker in pass situations, essential in his role on -- wait for it -- the blind side.
