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Super Bowl champion Michale Oher, whose life inspired the 2009 hit film, “The Blind Side,” recently shared the key to his success in his new “playbook” on football, fame, and facing adversity. While appearing on Fox’s “The Bottom Line,” Oher said, “It’s a playbook on life. A lot of its principles have led me here today to get over the obstacles and to rebound from health issues to homelessness as a teen, to success to dealing with everything I’ve been through.”
Oher continued, “And I wanted to put a playbook in place for everyone who’s paralyzed with fear and hopelessness and don’t think that they can, you know, get through life.” He shed more light on his already highly publicized childhood, sharing this his desire for a role model led to the inspiration for his new book, “Back Against the Wall.”
Oher told co-hosts Sean Duffy and Dagen McDowell, “I just started stacking those good days on top of good days. And I just thought toward what I wanted my future to be. And eventually, I knew if I stacked enough great days on top of those days, I would eventually get to where I wanted to be. And it did. Being homeless and in shelters, you need something else besides what you’re going through. It’s a huge struggle, but you can whatever you put in your mind, you can get it done.”
Despite his struggles, Oher gives back to the community in multiple ways. His latest venture is his new book, which he hopes inspires others. Duffy highlighted Oher’s immense hardship and incredible success throughout his life, noting the excess of criticism that can come with significant accomplishments.
In response, Oher said, “I got to send mean people halfway. The first time I felt like I was going to have a meal consistently and I wasn’t going to be homeless year in and year out is when I stepped on the college campus. So from three years old to 18, I put a ton of work in. And at that age, if you’re from where I’m from, you know, that’s a crucial age. And you’re just living to die at that point. And I still fought and was able to get the job done through hard work and through effort and showing up.”
Oher concluded the segment by issuing a passionate call to action to parents across America. “You have to be consistent. You have to be a presence. It’s being a mentor. And being there every day and not giving up on a kid and letting them know that you’re not going to be in and out of their lives,” Oher continued.
He added, “I didn’t have a mentor, I didn’t have someone that was going to be in my life every single day. You know, that’s what you need, someone who, you know, that’s going to care for you, and that’s going to love you.”