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Michael Oher: The Blind Side Damaged My Career

Michael Oher: The Blind Side Damaged My Career

An NFL offensive lineman who was the subject of a 2006 book and a 2009 box office hit movie has said the film has damaged his playing career.

Michael Oher, who was signed by the Carolina Panthers in a $7m deal in March, said The Blind Side had focused too much attention on him after he entered the NFL in 2009.

The 29-year-old left tackle, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2012, was involved in a fight with teammate Kony Ealy during a mini-camp this week.

He told ESPN: "I'm not trying to prove anything. People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie.

"They don't really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That's why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.

"This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not... that has nothing to do with football. It's something else off the field. That's why I don't like that movie."

Oher's final year of high school and first year of college were the subject of the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.

The 2009 film The Blind Side saw Sandra Bullock win an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a white mother from Tennessee who took in Oher as a homeless teenager - who goes on to star for Ole Miss and became a first-round draft pick by the Ravens.

The film grossed more than $250m in the US.

Oher was not re-signed by the Ravens in 2013, and was then cut by the Tennessee Titans in 2014 after battling a toe injury.