Tuohy Family: Former Rebel Michael Oher Attempted $15 Million 'Shakedown' Prior to Court Filings

The drama continues to unfold surrounding former Ole Miss Rebels and NFL lineman Michael Oher, this time coming from the side of the Tuohy family.

According to a release published by TMZ Sports, the Tuohy family attorney Marty Singer stated that Oher approached the family prior to his recent court filing and threatened them with a "negative story in the press" if they did not give up an eight-figure check. Singer also denied all of the claims in Oher's court filing, stating that the family did not trick the young Oher into a conservatorship.

According to the statement, the conservatorship "was established to assist with Mr. Oher’s needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver’s license to helping with college admissions," Singer said. "Should Mr. Oher wish to terminate the conservatorship, either now or at anytime in the future, the Tuohys will never oppose it in any way."

A large part of the drama in this saga centers on profits from the movie The Blind Side, from which Oher claims to have never received any profits while the Tuohy family pocketed a large sum of money. According to their attorney, that is not the case.

"Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side," Singer said. "Even recently, when Mr. Oher started to threaten them about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall, and, as part of that shakedown effort refused to cash the small profit checks from the Tuohys, they still deposited Mr. Oher’s equal share into a trust account they set up for his son.

"Unbeknownst to the public, Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before – but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth. Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour."

What's true, and what's not? At this point, it seems no one is certain, but the drama will continue to unfold around this Ole Miss family.