When Michael Oher was being recruited, Sean Tuohy Jr. was there to interrogate visiting coaches.
Now, Oher gets a chance to repay the favor, as he can look out for his “little brother” from up close.
Tuohy has signed to play basketball at nearby Loyola University, giving Oher a chance to keep tabs on him while the rest of the family’s back in Memphis. The little brother arrived on campus last month, and sees Oher at least two or three times a week.
“We’ve always been close, I always looked at him as a little brother, we always played games together, always been a sharp kid and he’s turned into a great guy,” Oher told Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun.
In the movie The Blind Side, the younger Tuohy was the one grilling Nick Saban and Lou Holtz, which he referred to as an “unfortunately accurate” portrayal.
“Definitely not the same guy in the movie,” Oher said. "[He’s] sharp, smart. Just a good all around kid, fun to be around. I had him and some of his teammates over and we watched the [NBA playoff] game and the [Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley] fight. He definitely can handle it, very mature, very smart. You don’t have to baby him or anything like that. He’s definitely his own man.”
While the Tuohy family famously took Oher in, the Ravens tackle now gets the chance to repay their loyalty.
But the Tuohy’s decision to attend Loyola was mostly about the chance to play basketball at Loyola for coach Jimmy Patsos, but having Oher around to move him into his dorm and provide support has been invaluable.
“It didn’t so much influence my decision but it made me so much more comfortable making it,” Tuohy said. “It took away some nerves.”
That protective instinct’s what made Oher such a great story to begin with and now he gets to continue to look after the family that looked after him.