Old North Banter
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Super Bowl 50: My Mom Was Right About Michael Oher

By John Woodcock

Nov 26, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart (28) and quarterback Cam Newton (1) and tackle Michael Oher (73) and fullback Mike Tolbert (35) pose for a photo during the second half of an NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium. The Panthers defeat the Cowboys 33-14. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart (28) and quarterback Cam Newton (1) and tackle Michael Oher (73) and fullback Mike Tolbert (35) pose for a photo during the second half of an NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium. The Panthers defeat the Cowboys 33-14. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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When the Carolina Panthers take on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 on February 7, one sentence will keep bouncing through my head: maybe my mother was right.

The Panthers will go into Super Bowl 50 with a ragtag offensive line. It will include an undrafted free agent, a practice squad player, a movie subject whose career was pronounced done in Tennessee, an LSU lineman not named Lael Collins, and the national champion center who somehow fell to the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

Now we don’t frame it that way since Ryan Kalil is an All-Pro and Trai Turner got voted to his first Pro Bowl.

Yet they have been pretty good in supplying the blocking needed for Cam Newton and Jonathan Stewart to run the ball. They have kept Newton mostly protected even against aggressive defense schemes like those used by the Seattle Seahawks or the Arizona Cardinals. Where was does that protection start? On the Blind Side.

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Panthers left tackle Michael Oher is not very fond of the movie that tells his life story as a kid adopted by a Memphis family who succeeds at football and becomes a great tackle at Ole Miss. It is the source of amusement for his teammates, but Oher insists that all the movie does is prejudice people against him.

They don’t expect the real Oher, but the God’s gift to football Oher. Expectations become too high and Oher clearly thinks that those expectations are unfair. How could anybody live up to that? It would be like comparing Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson to real Bo Jackson and deciding the real Bo Jackson is a disappointment because he is not as broken as Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson.

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Still the movie may hold the secret to Oher’s improved play. Disclaimer: I have not watched the movie, my information on it comes from my mother who did. My mother noted that Oher’s diminishing play may have been due to the idea that he needed someone to protect. This was something she got from the movie.

I was not particularly floored by the Oher signing. We needed a left tackle. Yes. He was available. Yes. We had his former line coach with the Ravens, John Matsko. Did I think he was anything more than Gettleman trying to maximize money to open up cap room? No. I waited for the draft and ended up only with fourth rounder Daryl Williams. I liked the ideas of Shaq Thompson and Devin Funchess, but I wasn’t sold that this was the right way to go.

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I think if I had been aware of Cam Newton’s communications with Oher during free agency, I would have had much more confidence. Newton texted Oher at one point and said “I need you.” That simple message must have cut Oher to the quick. Here, finally, was someone for him to protect and someone who needed him to do the protecting. The 2015 season happened.

This is not Oher’s first rodeo, he was on the 2012 Ravens Super Bowl winning team. The big stage and bright lights are not going to phase him. He just has to keep DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller off of Cam for four quarters. No biggie.

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