The Blind Side - a controversy

[Murdy]

No good deed goes unpunished….

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[Lily]

No good deed goes unpunished….

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

You don't find it strange that they were made conservators when he was legally an adult? I don't know the whole story, but did they in fact enrich themselves by doing so?

 

[Murdy]

You don't find it strange that they were made conservators when he was legally an adult? I don't know the whole story, but did they in fact enrich themselves by doing so?

The NCAA got involved after this formerly abandoned homeless black teen received a football scholarship from Ol Miss, which also happened to be the alma mater of the family who took him in. They were also boosters for Ol Miss, which technically violated recruiting regulations. This could have stopped him from playing, and the conservatorship was the fastest way around all of this. He and his biological mother agreed to the conservatorship for this reason.

I don’t think this is anymore than an old fashioned shake down considering Oher has been estranged from them for 10
years and his NFL career ended 5 years ago.

 

[Lily]

The NCAA got involved after this formerly abandoned homeless black teen received a football scholarship from Ol Miss, which also happened to be the alma mater of the family who took him in. They were also boosters for Ol Miss, which technically violated recruiting regulations. This could have stopped him from playing, and the conservatorship was the fastest way around all of this. He and his biological mother agreed to the conservatorship for this reason.

I don’t think this is anymore than an old fashioned shake down considering Oher has been estranged from them for 10
years and his NFL career ended 5 years ago.

With his talent he didn't have to play at Ole Miss. He could have played anywhere. And in all honesty, if this was so above board, he should have been represented by counsel. They manipulated that situation and they went around the NCAA regulations.

I think there was a power imbalance at the time this conservatorship was created. He was 18, not well educated and I'm assuming his mother wasn't as well positioned as they were either.

 

[Murdy]

With his talent he didn't have to play at Ole Miss. He could have played anywhere. And in all honesty, if this was so above board, he should have been represented by counsel. They manipulated that situation and they went around the NCAA regulations.

I think there was a power imbalance at the time this conservatorship was created. He was 18, not well educated and I'm assuming his mother wasn't as well positioned as they were either.

Yeah, but this is the south and it’s steeped in family traditions. No one batted an eye when they enrolled him at their kid’s private high school or paid for all of his living expenses before he ever played football. I’m sure he loved watching the Ol Miss games with them and wanted to go there. I don’t think they groomed him. The dad played football there and the mom was a cheerleader. It’s as American as apple pie and this abandoned homeless teen was living the dream.

The court was required to appoint a private attorney and an investigator as the attorney for the incapacitated person and also assigns a county employee as an investigator when the petition was filed. I seriously doubt it was contested.

 

[Lily]

Yeah, but this is the south and it’s steeped in family traditions. No one batted an eye when they enrolled him at their kid’s private high school or paid for all of his living expenses before he ever played football. I’m sure he loved watching the Ol Miss games with them and wanted to go there. I don’t think they groomed him. The dad played football there and the mom was a cheerleader. It’s as American as apple pie and this abandoned homeless teen was living the dream.

The court was required to appoint a private attorney and an investigator as the attorney for the incapacitated person and also assigns a county employee as an investigator when the petition was filed. I seriously doubt it was contested.

He isn't now and wasn't then mentally or physically incapacitated. They provided him counsel, not the courts. You don't offer someone "help" with expectations of profiting if you're doing it for compassion.

 

[Murdy]

He isn't now and wasn't then mentally or physically incapacitated. They provided him counsel, not the courts. You don't offer someone "help" with expectations of profiting if you're doing it for compassion.

Which begs the question why did an adult age 18 of sound mind and not physically incapacitated willingly enter into a conservatorship? The logical conclusions is because it benefited him in some way.

 

[Lily]

Which begs the question why did an adult age 18 of sound mind and not physically incapacitated willingly enter into a conservatorship? The logical conclusions is because it benefited him in some way.

Uh hello, he was homeless and he probably wasn't that clear what it meant from a legal perspective. Did he fully understand the implication of them having the legal wherewithal to prevent HIM from signing contracts without their permission?

At 18, I bet he didn't.

 

[Murdy]

Uh hello, he was homeless and he probably wasn't that clear what it meant from a legal perspective. Did he fully understand the implication of them having the legal wherewithal to prevent HIM from signing contracts without their permission?

At 18, I bet he didn't.

Which is where the court appointed attorney and county investigator I previously mentioned comes into play. Oher’s interests were adequately represented imho. I don’t believe the judge was wrong for entering the order for the conservatorship.

I see no malfeasance as long as the family provides the accounting’s for the years in question that were not filed with the court. They claim there is a paper trail and that Oher was handling his own contract negotiations and earnings, and the lawsuit makes no mention of any of that.

If they stole the movie money, I believe a reasonable argument could be made the family should have been reimbursed for the money they invested in this child. I don’t know the family, so I can only speculate that this would be their response. We forget that this was a family that showed generosity and compassion to a child who had nothing, no one and nowhere to go. It’s sad to me that they are estranged now…. But rich people cut their greedy, degenerate kids off all the time and that’s nothing new.

 

[Murdy]

Now I will welcome you to a neurodivergent dive into due diligence that will help prove my theory:

Who funded the original conservatorship from 2005 through 2009 when no movie deal or NFL income was available?

At age 36, do you believe Oher is of sound mind and body to contest the conservatorship?

If not at age 18, at which point was Oher of adequate age and sound mind and body to enter into legally binding agreements and/or conservatorship?

On that same note, at what age would he have been of sound mind and body to contest this conservatorship?

Why has Oher never contested the conservatorship until now? Which is post NFL career and more than 18 years after the conservatorship was established? He is 36 years old. His Ol Miss scholarship was in 2005, his NFL career ended 5 years ago…. again, why now?

Why are his NFL contractual negotiations and earnings NOT part of this lawsuit?

Why is the only money mentioned in this lawsuit regarding the movie deal that the family was paid for in 2009?

Why has Oher not contested any of the financing of this conservatorship prior to 2009 or requested that those accountings be entered into the court? The family’s attorney should have them entered into the record to salvage their reputation tbh.

I think if you answered these questions with verified information that Oher’s motive would be clear.

 

[Murdy]

The conservatorship has been terminated.

 

[Lily]

The conservatorship has been terminated.

Long overdue.

 

[Murdy]

I’m watching BlindSided on HBO.

I see a loose connection between his lawsuit being about the image his non adoption turned conservatorship for college football purposes and the financial opportunities it created for the parents.

But Hollywood produced a movie and the parents were also represented in that movie. Michael was a secondary character and has even challenged the validity of how he was portrayed. Why should he be entitled to royalties based on his fictionalized representation in that movie?

 

[Lily]

Because regardless of what they did, it was his talent that got him into the NFL and there would be no story without him.

 

[Murdy]

Because regardless of what they did, it was his talent that got him into the NFL and there would be no story without him.

True.

I think his argument would have been stronger against Hollywoke… but not many esquires are going to attempt a hail marry like that on an EX nfl players salary.

He should have gone to his family…

And when Leanne freaked out because it would ruin her, she should have wrote him a fatty check as hush money.