Tuohys dispute Michael Oher claims, allege 'shakedown effort' - ESPN

The Tennessee family accused by retired NFL star Michael Oher of tricking him into a conservatorship and claiming all the proceeds from a blockbuster film about his life responded to the allegations Tuesday by claiming that Oher threatened to go public with his story if they did not pay him $15 million.

Attorney Martin Singer issued a statement on the Tuohys' behalf that called Oher's claims «outlandish» and said «the idea that the family ever sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.»

«In reality, the Tuohys opened their home to Mr. Oher, offered him structure, support and, most of all, unconditional love,» Singer's statement said. «They have consistently treated him like a son and one of their three children. His response was to threaten them, including saying that he would plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million.»

Oher's attorney, J. Gerard Stranch IV, declined to comment when reached by ESPN on Tuesday.

The story of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy and their efforts to help raise Oher out of poverty to the NFL was immortalized in the 2009 movie «The Blind Side.» On Monday, Oher petitioned a Tennessee probate court with allegations that a central element of the story — that the Tuohys had adopted him — was a lie concocted by the family to enrich itself. Instead, less than three months after Oher turned 18 in 2004, the petition says, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name.

The petition further alleges that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike a deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties