Michael Oher

[PntherPryd]

For a long time my wife has been after me to write a letter to the Panthers about how happy we were to see Michael Oher come to the Panthers due to our experiences with foster care in this country.   I wrote it on the Panthers facebook page but then realized it would probably never get seen there so posting a copy here as well.

We recently adopted a 17 year-old girl from foster care to join our family.  My wife knew her from working as her Guardian Ad Litem (volunteer social services) for five years and knew it would be helpful for her to have a home before heading off to college.  But the rest of our family did not. In the Spring she started spending weekends with us and it was heart-breaking to take her back to the Lake Waccamaw Boys & Girls home every Sunday night but we had to wait on "paper work" and background checks. Finally we were able to bring her home for good and planned a church ceremony to mark the moment.  As we were driving to the service with the entire family, she seemed nervous.  My wife tried to reassure her how great it was that she was about to become a member of our family and she quietly replied, "I thought I already was". If you don't recall, this was a very moving quote from Michael Oher's character in the movie "Blind Side".  And she knew exactly who she was quoting.  But it hit us like a ton of bricks.  Like Michael Oher, she had led a very tough life of abuse and hardship and was handling the change with amazing grace. We are finally getting a chance to drive from Wilmington to Bank of America stadium this weekend to watch her "future husband" Luke Kuechly.... but I know her attention on offense is going to be on #73. They always say how you can tell how well an offensive lineman is doing by how little you hear his name called.  But I'd like to take this time to thank Mr. Oher not only for having an incredible first year (of many) with the Panthers but also by setting such an incredibly powerful and successful example for foster children and their families. If any of you have room in your hearts and homes, our country has hundreds of thousands of children that are cast off and living in temporary foster homes that need permanent homes.  #keeppounding !

 

 

 

[bryn10]

Awesome thing Your family is doing for the girl.

[Day_One]

cool story yo... can you teach your kids how to block?

[Montsta]

1 minute ago, Day_One said:

cool story yo... can you teach your kids how to block?

Wtf?

[PntherPryd]

3 minutes ago, Montsta said:

Wtf?

pretty sure he was relating it to the movie.  

unfortunately no built in scholarships for this adoption!

 

[Captain Morgan]

23 hours ago, PntherPryd said:

 

For a long time my wife has been after me to write a letter to the Panthers about how happy we were to see Michael Oher come to the Panthers due to our experiences with foster care in this country.   I wrote it on the Panthers facebook page but then realized it would probably never get seen there so posting a copy here as well.

We recently adopted a 17 year-old girl from foster care to join our family.  My wife knew her from working as her Guardian Ad Litem (volunteer social services) for five years and knew it would be helpful for her to have a home before heading off to college.  But the rest of our family did not. In the Spring she started spending weekends with us and it was heart-breaking to take her back to the Lake Waccamaw Boys & Girls home every Sunday night but we had to wait on "paper work" and background checks. Finally we were able to bring her home for good and planned a church ceremony to mark the moment.  As we were driving to the service with the entire family, she seemed nervous.  My wife tried to reassure her how great it was that she was about to become a member of our family and she quietly replied, "I thought I already was". If you don't recall, this was a very moving quote from Michael Oher's character in the movie "Blind Side".  And she knew exactly who she was quoting.  But it hit us like a ton of bricks.  Like Michael Oher, she had led a very tough life of abuse and hardship and was handling the change with amazing grace. We are finally getting a chance to drive from Wilmington to Bank of America stadium this weekend to watch her "future husband" Luke Kuechly.... but I know her attention on offense is going to be on #73. They always say how you can tell how well an offensive lineman is doing by how little you hear his name called.  But I'd like to take this time to thank Mr. Oher not only for having an incredible first year (of many) with the Panthers but also by setting such an incredibly powerful and successful example for foster children and their families. If any of you have room in your hearts and homes, our country has hundreds of thousands of children that are cast off and living in temporary foster homes that need permanent homes.  #keeppounding !

 

 

 

kudos to you and your wife and all of your family.  My sister runs a small orphanage for disabled kids in China.

There are good people still left in this world.  

The 2015 Carolina Panthers are built on character.  I'm so very happy Mike is on this team, and I hope all our guys get a ring this year.

[Chaos]

Great story, I'm glad you gave her a home and shared the story with us.  Thanks for making the world a better place. 

[The Saltman]

Nice one bro. Me personally, I wouldn't be able to do something like this, so I have a lot of respect for you!!

 

I Tweeted it out to Michael Oher.

It would be nice if this got some attention.

Maybe Jeremy can send or publish this link.

[ThPantherFan]

Exceptional!  I hope Michael Oher reads this and gets to meet you all.

[Shields17]

Great read man. Well put.

 

I'd also like to personally thank Michael Orr for being a go-to move when talking to chicks who aren't into football about the Panthers on gameday. Dropping a "You know we have the Blindside guy? He's right there!" makes them feel a part of the moment lol

[DeeJay]

^ Creppy clown ICON btw

Awesome story keep pounding michael oher was hated once now he's pretty darn bad ass

[TN05]

I've really been impressed by him this season. Nobody expected him to play adequately, let alone good, but he's done a very good job. Pro Bowl might be a bit much but he takes away that gaping hole at LT

[panthers55]

10 hours ago, PntherPryd said:

 

For a long time my wife has been after me to write a letter to the Panthers about how happy we were to see Michael Oher come to the Panthers due to our experiences with foster care in this country.   I wrote it on the Panthers facebook page but then realized it would probably never get seen there so posting a copy here as well.

We recently adopted a 17 year-old girl from foster care to join our family.  My wife knew her from working as her Guardian Ad Litem (volunteer social services) for five years and knew it would be helpful for her to have a home before heading off to college.  But the rest of our family did not. In the Spring she started spending weekends with us and it was heart-breaking to take her back to the Lake Waccamaw Boys & Girls home every Sunday night but we had to wait on "paper work" and background checks. Finally we were able to bring her home for good and planned a church ceremony to mark the moment.  As we were driving to the service with the entire family, she seemed nervous.  My wife tried to reassure her how great it was that she was about to become a member of our family and she quietly replied, "I thought I already was". If you don't recall, this was a very moving quote from Michael Oher's character in the movie "Blind Side".  And she knew exactly who she was quoting.  But it hit us like a ton of bricks.  Like Michael Oher, she had led a very tough life of abuse and hardship and was handling the change with amazing grace. We are finally getting a chance to drive from Wilmington to Bank of America stadium this weekend to watch her "future husband" Luke Kuechly.... but I know her attention on offense is going to be on #73. They always say how you can tell how well an offensive lineman is doing by how little you hear his name called.  But I'd like to take this time to thank Mr. Oher not only for having an incredible first year (of many) with the Panthers but also by setting such an incredibly powerful and successful example for foster children and their families. If any of you have room in your hearts and homes, our country has hundreds of thousands of children that are cast off and living in temporary foster homes that need permanent homes.  #keeppounding !

 

 

 

I know the feeling very well. I have raised several children as a therapeutic foster parent with children with severe emotional problems. I have adopted children while raising two biological children as well.  My oldest is in his 40s and my youngest  is 16.  Changing the world one child as a time. And what I get out of it is it keeps me young and relevant.

 

[PhillyB]

life goals. y'all are awesome