MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis couple who took in former NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher when he was in highschool denied in courtroom paperwork filed Thursday that they used a authorized settlement between them to get wealthy at his expense and lied about meaning to undertake him.

Lawyers for Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy filed a response to Oher’s Aug. 14 request for a choose to finish a conservatorship signed in 2004 when Oher was an 18-year-old highschool soccer participant in Memphis and a prized school recruit. Oher had a troubled childhood and moved in with the Tuohy household, in a narrative that was the topic of the movie “The Blind Side,” which earned Sandra Bullock an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.

Oher, 37, filed his petition in probate courtroom accusing the Tuohys of mendacity to him by having him signal papers making them his conservators fairly than his adoptive dad and mom almost twenty years in the past. Oher needs the conservatorship to be terminated, a full accounting of the cash earned off his title and story to be completed and to be paid what he's due, with curiosity.

He accused the couple of falsely representing themselves as his adoptive dad and mom, saying he found in February the conservatorship agreed to in 2004 was not the association he thought it was - and that it supplied him no familial relationship to them. He claims the Tuohys have stored him at nighttime about monetary dealings associated to his title, picture and likeness through the 19-year lifetime of the settlement.

The Tuohys have known as the claims they enriched themselves at his expense outlandish, hurtful and absurd and a part of a “shakedown” by Oher. Lawyers representing the couple additionally mentioned the Tuohys would enter right into a consent order to finish the conservatorship.

In Tennessee, a conservatorship removes energy from an individual to make choices for themselves, and it's typically used within the case of a medical situation or incapacity.

But Oher’s conservatorship was accredited “despite the fact that he was over 18 years old and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities,” his petition mentioned.

In their response, the prosperous couple repeated their willingness to finish the conservatorship. They mentioned they liked Oher like a son and supplied him with meals, shelter, clothes and vehicles whereas he lived with them, however denied saying they supposed to legally undertake him.

The Tuoys’ submitting mentioned Oher referred to them as “mom” and pa,” they usually sometimes referred to Oher as a son. They acknowledged that web sites present them referring to Oher as an adopted son, however the time period was solely used “in the colloquial sense and they have never intended that reference to be viewed with legal implication.”

“They vehemently deny that they saw the Petitioner as a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit,” the Tuohys’ submitting states.

The Tuohys mentioned they conservatorship was the device chosen to adjust to NCAA guidelines that might have stored Oher from attending the University of Mississippi, the place Sean Tuohy had been a standout basketball participant.

“When it became clear that the Petitioner could not consider going to the University of Mississippi (”Ole Miss”) because of residing with the Respondents, the NCAA made it clear that he may attend Ole Miss if he was a part of the Tuohy household in some trend,” the submitting mentioned.

The Tuohys additionally mentioned Oher lied about discovering out that he was not adopted in February. They mentioned Oher’s 2011 e-book “I Beat the Odds” signifies that he was totally conscious that the Tuohys had been appointed as conservators.

Agents negotiated a small advance for the Tuohys from the manufacturing firm for “The Blind Side,” primarily based on a e-book written by Sean Tuohy’s buddy Michael Lewis, the couple’s attorneys have mentioned. That included “a tiny percentage of net profits” divided equally amongst a bunch that included Oher, they mentioned.

The attorneys mentioned they estimated every of the Tuohys and Oher acquired $100,000 apiece, and the couple paid taxes on Oher’s portion for him.

The Tuohys’ submitting mentioned they by no means signed any professional soccer contracts for Oher, and he was pleased with their monetary preparations from “The Blind Side.”

Oher was the twenty third general choose within the 2009 draft out of Mississippi, and he spent his first 5 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, the place he gained a Super Bowl. He performed 110 video games over eight NFL seasons, together with 2014 when he began 11 video games for the Tennessee Titans. Oher completed his profession in Carolina.

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