Football player who inspired The Blind Side gets married to partner of 17 years

A former NFL player who inspired the 2009 film The Blind Side got married to his longtime partner over the weekend.

Michael Oher took to Instagram on Tuesday (8 November) to announce he had married his longtime girlfriend, Tiffany Roy.

The pair - who have been together for 17 years - are the parents to sons Kobi and MJ and daughters Kierstin and Naivi.

According to People, Oher and Roy met at University of Mississippi and got engaged in July 2021.

The magazine also reported the pair got married at JW Marriot in Nashville, Tennesse, on 5 November (Saturday).

@michaeloher / Instagram

Alongside a picture of him standing at the altar with Roy, Oher said: "Filled with joy, can’t believe people took their time and came to celebrate! My beautiful wife, I love you so much, thank you for blessing me with our family!

"Easily the best single weekend I’ve ever been apart of. Not being from the area everyone came to was even more special. I won’t be able to tell everyone thank you, if I saw you this weekend, thank you! I’m complete, let’s keep trending upward!"

Many celebrities and fans have congratulated the happy couple in the comments section to the post, including the likes of fellow NFL stars Albert Haynesworth and Albert McClellan.

Oher's life was told in the 2006 Michael Lewis' 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game and was later adapted into a film.

That was the 2009 Academy Award-winning The Blind Side, staring Sandra Bullock as Oher's adopted mother.

Oher did not have the easiest upbringing and was in and out of foster care up until he was a teenager.

But then, he was adopted by Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy, who helped him in his schooling and his aim to be a professional football player.

Oher's adopted mother was a fan of the film when speaking to Today in 2016.

Leigh Anne Tuohy said: "It’s a great movie. We were really pleased. The fact of the matter is, everyone has a story and ours just happens to be the one that was told."

Tribune Content Agency LLC/Alamy Stock Photo

She also dismissed speculation that Oher was not a fan of the film: "Michael does like the movie. I think what happened was one time, Michael played a great game, and the first thing the reporter asked him after was about the movie.

"The truth of the matter is that he does not dislike the movie — he dislikes the attention that it draws to him."

Oher's dream came true in 2009 as he was drafted by Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the NFL draft.

He enjoyed a successful NFL career with Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, before hanging up his boots in 2016.