The Blind Side

There's a moment of orderly silence

before a football play begins.

Players are in position,

linemen are frozen,

and anything is possible.

Then, like a traffic accident,

stuff begins to randomly collide.

From the snap of the ball

to the snap of the first bone

is closer to four seconds than five.

One Mississippi.

Joe Theismann,

the Redskins quarterback

takes the snap and hands off

to his running back.

Two Mississippi.

It's a trick play, a flea-flicker,

and the running back tosses the ball

back to the quarterback.

Three Mississippi.

Up to now the play's been defined

by the what the quarterback sees.

It's about to be defined

by what he doesn't.

Four Mississippi.

Lawrence Taylor is the best

defensive player in the NFL

and has been from the time he stepped

onto the field as a rookie.

He will also change the game of football

as we know it.

...And we'll look at it

with the reverse angle one more time.

And I suggest if your stomach is weak

you just don't watch ...

Legendary quarterback Joe Theismann

never played another down of football.

Now, y'all would guess

that more often than not

the highest paid player on

an NFL team is the quarterback.

And you'd be right.

What you probably don't know

is that more often than not

the second highest paid player is,

thanks to Lawrence Taylor,

a left tackle.

Because, as every housewife knows,

the first check you write

is for the mortgage

but the second is for the insurance.

And the left tackle's job

is to protect the quarterback

form what he can't see coming.

To protect his blind side.

The ideal left tackle is big,

but a lot of people are big.

He is wide in the butt

and massive in the thighs.

He has long arms, giant hands

and feet as quick as a hiccup.

This is a rare and expensive combination

the need for which can be traced

to that Monday night game

and Lawrence Taylor.

For on that day he not only

altered Joe Theismann's life,

but mine as well.

Mr. Oher?

Mr. Oher?

Do you understand..?

Do you know why I'm here?

To... investigate?

Yes. To investigate.

Im here to investigate your odd...

predicament.

Do you find it odd?

Your predicament?

Michael?...

I dunno.

Can I... can I leave now?

No. You can't.

# Strange face, with your eyes #

# So pale and sincere #

# Underneath, you know well #

# You have nothing to fear #

# For the dreams that came to you #

# when you were young #

# Told of a life where #

# Spring has crawled #

# You would seem so frail #

# In the cold of the night #

# When the armies of emotion #

# Go out to fight #

# But while the earth #

# sinks to its grave #

# You sail to the sky #

# On the crest of a wave #

They said you were the coach.

Burt Cotton.

Tony Hamilton, but everybody

just calls me big Tony.

Hey, Big Mike! Check it out.

Not even locked!

White people are crazy.

I promised my mama Boo, on her deathbed

that I'd get my son Steven outta

public school and into a church school.

I appreciate that, Tony.

But I'm not involved with admissions.

I just figured maybe I'd come

to talk to you,

seeing as you might need some players.

What kind of sport

is he playing?

Anything with a ball.

Boy's good, too.

Classes start in a week. It would

have to be for the next semester.

I know, what you're thinking, Coach.

But, look here, I got money, all right?

See I'm a mechanic at Wilson's Auto

the other side of town.

Look, what if somebody drops out

or moves?

Could they get in then?

"They?"

You only mentioned one son.

That's right, Steven.

But there's another boy.

- Another boy?

- Yeah.

Big Mike.

Sleeps on my couch

from time to time.

It's a bad deal. You know,

his mama's on the crack pipe.

He ain't got nobody else.

He just wanted to come along

for the ride.

- They're here?

- Yeah.

The little one, that's Steven

and the big one...

Big Mike.

Swish!

Mike!

Come on!

Mother of God....

Steven Hamilton's paperwork

looks acceptable to me.

And I believe he would do fine.

- But this other kid...

- Big Mike.

Michael Oher gives us

no reason to believe that,

based on his record,

that he would be successful here.

How bad could it be?

We're not exactly sure how old

he is due to his lack of records.

He has a measured IQ of 80.

Which is 6th percentile.

His grade point average begins with zero.

Zero-point-six.

Everyone passed him along

they gave him D's so they could hand

their problem off to the next school.

He's a brave kid.

For wanting to come here.

For wanting a quality education.

An education denied him by the poor

quality of the schools he's attended.

I tell you most kids

with his background

wouldn't come within two hundred miles

of this place.

Coach Cotton, we understand your interest

in this young man's athletic abilities.

Now, he wouldn't be able to play sports

until he got his grades up anyway.

Forget sports!

Look at the wall.

Christian.

We either take that seriously

or we paint over it.

You don't admit Michael Oher

because of sports,

you admit him

because it's the right thing to do.

Class, this is Mike Oher

and he's new here

so I expect you all

to make him feel welcome.

Mike, just take any empty seat.

This is a quiz based on the information

you learned last year

in your science curriculum.

Don't worry.

It's not gonna be graded.

I just want to see how much

information we need to hit again.

Just answer whatever you know.

Thank you.

- Can I leave now?

- Yeah.

Take your book.

Why should he always stay in our home?

- He's gonna eat all our food.

- This is not true.

I try to be Christian about the son.

All right?

Let somebody else be

Christian about this kid.

You want me to throw him out

on the street like some dog?

Let somebody else take

over the responsibility!

Should I throw him out

on the street?

He's here all the time.

I just want to be with you!

All right. All right. Whatever

You win. I'll take care of it.

I don't care if Patrick Ramsey

approved the chair.

He's the NFL quarterback

not Martha frickin' Stewart.

Because there's a difference between

Bunny Williams and a La-Z-boy.

No. See, when MTV Cribs

comes to his house

he's gonna be showing off

his home theatre

all I'm gonna see is

a brown Barcalounger.

No. No, listen to me.

I'm the designer, my name is on it.

Deliver what I ordered!

All right? Thank you.

- What'd I miss?

- Collins has just got a dig.

It's a girl's volleyball, Mom.

You didn't miss anything.

- Come on Collins! Move your feet! Come on!

- Good job, Collins!

Go!

Collins, we're gonna wait

for you outside.

But don't double condition in

the shower, you have homework!

I'm going over to Cannon's to study.

SJ! SJ, do not go to the

girl's locker room again.

Come here!

SJ, come here!

Well, the big kid's been here

for a month

he's still not cutting in my class.

Why does Admissions do this?

I mean, it's not fair to us or the boy.

Just setting him up to fail.

I don't think, he has any idea

what I'm teaching.

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