74 Days Until the College Football Season Kicks Off

So close.

We’re over a quarter of the way home now and we are still in the heart of the offensive line position for the countdown. For day 74, we look at a tackle who played college ball in the south and has an incredible back story.

Michael Oher has become a household name over the years due to the story of his life being turned into a movie, The Blindside. It details how Oher was brought in by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy and eventually went onto receive division offers to play college football.

Oher’s recruitment was heavily investigated by the NCAA when he picked to play for the Ole Miss Rebels. Ole Miss was a school that Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy were donors at, Michaels GPA was not high enough to earn a scholarship, and his high school coach Hugh Freeze also got the recruiting coordinator job at the time.

Once Oher’s investigation ended, after the Tuohy’s were examined closely and Michael took a ten day course online, he was fully enrolled at Ole Miss. He picked the rebels over Alabama, LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee.

At Ole Miss, Oher made his presence known early on. He started ten games at guard his first season and was named a Freshman All American. The next season in 2006, Oher moved to tackle and excelled big time.

After his junior season, Oher announced his entry to the NFL Draft but two days later redacted his entry to return to Ole Miss for his senior season. Through his career, Oher was named All SEC twice, All American once, won the Shug Jordan Award, the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, and an Outland and Lombardi Award finalist.

Oher was drafted twenty third overall in the 2009 Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. A truly inspiring and touching story.

Tomorrow for day 73, we get to look at another dominant SEC offensive lineman that played many decades prior to Oher.