"The Blind Side" captured the hearts of football fans across the country. The 2009 film was based on the true story of the Tuohy family, who adopts football player Michael Oher and helps him go from homeless to an All-American offensive lineman, NFL first-round draft pick and Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens.
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Grossing more than $300 million and delivering an Academy Award and Golden Globe to Sandra Bullock, the adaptation from Michael Lewis's 2006 book "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" is still one of the best football movies ever and an inspiring story for all. Along the way, Oher (played by Quinton Aaron) develops a special bond with family members like Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock), Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw), Collins Tuohy (Lily Collins) and their youngest son, Sean "SJ" Tuohy Jr. (Jae Head).
SJ and Oher's connection is especially prevalent. The 11-year-old brother becomes a tough negotiator with college football coaches, helps his brother learn the playbook using kitchen spices and lives through a car crash thanks to Oher using his arm like an airbag.
The real Sean Tuohy Jr. may have been much younger than Oher back then, but now he's all grown up. He played college basketball, dated a famous TV show host's daughter and now works on the staff of a major college football program.
Who Played SJ Tuohy in The Blind Side?
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
RELATED: 'The Blind Side's' Collins Tuohy Married a College QB & Son of a Billionaire
Jae Head plays SJ Tuohy in the movie. The actor, who is now 25, also briefly starred in "Friday Night Lights" and Hancock alongside Will Smith and Jason Bateman.
SJ and Oher become close throughout the movie. The family's youngest son even tries to negotiate with Alabama head coach Nick Saban (who was LSU's head coach in the movie) and former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron (who was at Ole Miss back then) to get his brother to play football for their schools.
Who is SJ Tuohy?
Sean Tuohy Jr. is the son of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, the family that inspired "The Blind Side."
SJ's sister is Collins Tuohy, the former University of Mississippi cheerleader who married former college football quarterback and son of a billionaire Cannon Smith. His adopted brother is Michael Oher, who played eight seasons in the NFL with the Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.
SJ's father became the SEC's all-time assists leader playing for the Ole Miss Rebels. He then followed in his dad's footsteps by playing college basketball as a point guard for the Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds for three years. SJ then transferred to SMU and played football under Chad Morris while also coaching special teams, according to ESPN.
When Morris earned the head coaching job for the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2018, he brought SJ on to the staff as an assistant director of football operations. SJ has a degree from Loyola and received his Master's degree from SMU.
What Is He Doing Now?
Sean Tuohy Jr. now works as an Associate Athletics Director at the University of Central Florida. He was hired as the director of football operations for Guz Malzahn's inaugural UCF staff. His subtitle is now football chief of staff, which is essentially the same thing as his former role.
Before UCF, Tuohy previously worked for Liberty football team. He was hired by head coach Hugh Freeze in 2020 to help with travel logistics and on-campus recruiting as the assistant athletic director of football operations for the Liberty Flames, per ESPN.
Freeze and the Tuohy family have known each other for quite some time. Freeze, in fact, was Oher's high school coach at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee. He even made a cameo in "The Blind Side."
"Even as a young kid, people were drawn to him, and he had the kind of personality that you knew he was going to be successful at whatever he did," Freeze told ESPN of Tuohy Jr. "He had some other options, so we're excited to get him here at Liberty and get started."
Sean Tuohy Jr. Dated Pat Sajak's Daughter
It's true.
According to Tuohy Jr.'s Instagram account, he was dating "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak's daughter Maggie Sajak as recently as March 29, 2020. Apparently, it's become a coronavirus relationship.
"A lot of people meet their girlfriends online and then date in real life. Thanks to the 'rona, I met mine in real life, now we just date online (and FaceTime audio). Happy one month or whatever, @maggiesajak," he wrote on Instagram.
Maggie Sajak is Pat and Lesly Brown Sajak's daughter. She's a country singer signed to AO Recordings and graduated from Princeton University. In 2020, she filled in for Vanna White on the show as the letter turner. White hosted it while Pat Sajak was recovering from surgery.
"Throwback to the good old days when we could go in public! oh also, in the words of @sjtuohy, happy one month or whatever," she wrote on Instagram in March 2020.
The two haven't posted photos with each other since then, but this is definitely an odd and unexpected pairing. It's only fair to wonder how they met.
