Michael Oher is known as the inspirational true story behind the book and movie "The Blind Side", but he has recently found himself in hot water with the law after allegedly attacking and even (allegedly) biting an Uber driver.
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The altercation in question took place this past April with citations for assault being filed in early May. At the time, all that was known was that Oher was in the Uber with four friends when an argument broke out over a fare. According to the report, the driver got out of the car to open the passenger door when Oher confronted him outside of the car. The NFL lineman was accused of pushing the driver to the ground and kicking him in the leg before he was restrained by the other people in the car.
At the time of the citation that was a pretty big deal, but new details have emerged that make this even worse for Oher. The Uber driver, Girma Berkess, called 911 with Oher and his friends in the car and claimed that someone was drunk and was trying to attack him. The Tennessean's Natalie Neysa Alund transcribed the call:
I drove them, he's drunk. He's trying to attack me right now," Nashville resident Girma Berkess told a Metro Nashville dispatcher on April 14.
The Uber driver had just picked up former Tennessee Titans lineman and Memphis native Michael Oher from his Brentwood home after he requested a ride to a Nashville comedy club.
For the next 12 minutes, the caller relayed a panicked and detailed account of the alleged attack.
"He's drunk ... he's trying to attack me now ... he's about to hit me," Berkess says during the frantic call.
"OK, where are you at?" the dispatcher asks.
The caller screams.
"I'm (being) attacked right now. He just attacked me!"
Berkess went on to relay to the 911 dispatcher that he was bitten.
According to Neysa Alund's reporting, a lawsuit was filed this week in the Davidson County Circuit Court and it claims that Oher was drunk when he entered Berkess' car. Per the lawsuit, Oher asked Berkess to follow his wife's car but traffic caused the two cars to lose each other.
"In (Oher's) rage, he called (the driver) a derogatory homophobic term several times and threatened the (driver) with physical violence," the suit continues. "(Oher) then ordered the (driver) to pull over at a Mapco gas station so (Oher) and his friends could urinate."
The allegations, as well as the evidence of the 911 call, don't look good for Orr, who's currently out of the NFL after being released by the Carolina Panthers this past Thursday for failing a physical. Oher, who checks in at 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, has been stuck in the NFL's concussion protocol since this past fall. He suffered a concussion early last season while with the Panthers and was only able to play in three games as a result
Oher was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the 23rd overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played five seasons with the Ravens before playing for his home town Tennessee Titans in 2014. Oher played 16 games with the Panthers in 2015, playing well enough to earn a three-year, $21.6 million contract extension.
According to the Charlotte Observer, he does qualify for injury compensation.
(H/T Bleacher Report)
