People from Michael Oher’s real life made several appearances in the film. Even real members of the Tuohy family made minor, but nevertheless, interesting cameos.
In the film, during the scene of the first game, the real S.J. Tuohy can be seen next to Tim McGraw, who played S.J’s father, Sean Tuohy. Since the Tuohys first welcomed Oher into their family, The now-25-year-old has emerged as a successful athlete, journalist, and scholar. Following high school, S.J. got his bachelor’s degree in Communications from Loyola University in Baltimore where he also played basketball. After graduating, he decided to pursue a master’s degree at Southern Methodist University while also playing football. In 2017, he coached at SMU. Currently, he is a special assistant to the head coach of football operations for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Football Fans
There are several iconic cameos made in The Blind Side. One very special cameo was made by Michael Oher’s real-life high school football coach from Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Hugh Freeze. Where can you see him in the film?
Hugh Freeze’s time on the big screen occurs when he plays a University of Arkansas assistant, standing behind the real-life Arkansas Razorbacks coach, Houston Nutt. At the time, Freeze no longer worked as the Briarcrest coach but had moved on to Tennessee’s Lambuth University, where he was the head coach of the football team until switching to Arkansas State in 2010.
"Wonderbar" Blind Side
Before a film’s official release, it is often referred to as its working title. Sometimes, the working title is also used when copies of the movie are sent to theaters. This happens in order to hide the identities of highly-anticipated movies.
In the case of The Blind Side, before it was released, it was given the very vague title of Wonderbar. Wunderbar is a German word for “wonderful.” Were they expecting the 33mm film to be a huge success or were they just sending it off in good, positive spirits?
Troubles With The Timeline
When a movie is filmed shortly after something takes place, it could appear as though everything has stayed the same. Because of that, some details get overlooked. One such example takes place in the scene at the recruiting office.
During this scene, Tom Lemming receives a DVD of Michael Oher, which sits on a magazine with football player Bryce Brown on the cover, showing him playing in the Army All-American game of 2009. However, The Blind Side takes place in 2003 and 2004 and during those years, Bryce Brown was only 12- and 13-years-old
Uh-Oh!
In the film, Michael Oher needs to improve his grades and average in order to be accepted to the fictional Wingate Christian School. During one scene, Michael is seen taking a history exam. But, something is off.
The camera highlights a question about the Battle of Waterloo and where it happened. Michael wrote that the battle took place in Germany and his teacher marked his answer as correct. However, the battle really took place in what was then The Netherlands and now, Belgium.