Michael Oher Not All That Excited By That Movie Where Sandra Bullock Goes Blonde

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↵As you might have been already tipped off to by the scores of ads yesterday, The Blind Side will be released into theaters nationwide this Friday. Expect heavy doses of Hollywood treacle and possibly some music from The Fray.↵↵The likely awfulness of the movie aside, the fact that its subject, Michael Oher, is presently a rookie in the NFL makes for an intriguing wrinkle in what looks otherwise like a standard Hollywood self-affirming weep-a-thon. The marketing folks have clearly tried to tie Oher’s success into promotion of the film, as footage of Oher on draft day has been included in several commercials plugging the movie.↵

↵↵But will Oher be hitting the talk show circuit to give the movie an in-person push? Probably not.↵

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↵↵⇥But Oher, 23, hasn’t yet made plans to see the premiere Tuesday in New York - the day after the Ravens play at the Cleveland Browns on “Monday Night Football.” Nor has he set a date to catch it at a local theater when it opens here Friday.↵⇥↵⇥“I am not curious. I am not in a hurry to see it,” said the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Oher, who was selected by the Ravens with the 23rd overall pick in April’s draft. “But I will watch it eventually.”↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥It’s not that he’s opposed to the movie or embarrassed by its premise.↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥“I am never ashamed of where I came from,” Oher said. “Where I came from, a lot of people don’t make it out. I think it has made me a tougher person, a better player.”↵⇥

↵↵And that makes sense. Oher has been the subject of a hugely popular book for some time, so it’s not as though getting attention for his upbringing will be anything new. Obviously the scope of attention a movie can generate compared to a book is a considerable difference in magnitude, but it’s the same idea. Plus, as a rookie, allowing himself to get caught up in the hoopla (which his family appears to be doing for him by proxy) would interfere with a critical stage of his development as a player. Sure, as a first-round pick, his job would likely not be in jeopardy even if his play dipped slightly around the movie’s release, but an indulgence in self-promotion early in his career could land him an unfavorable reputation with coaches and fans that is difficult to shake, even with a mawkish movie depicting your childhood struggles.↵↵(H/T to Stet Sports Blog)↵

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