When Your Back's Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned through a Lifetime of Adversity

by Michael Oher, Don Yaeger

Overview

The NFL champion whose life inspired the hit movie The Blind Side is back with an inspiring and motivating book on overcoming any obstacle, no matter how tough the odds

Millions of people became part of Michael Oher’s story when they watched a version of him on the big screen; read his memoir, I Beat the Odds; or cheered him on from the stands. After speaking to so many of them over the years, Oher knows that more than anything, people want to believe great things can happen, even when the situation looks bleak. His story of overcoming the toughest of odds serves as their hope.
Oher’s life has had a lot of unexpected highs: a college degree; four beautiful, healthy children and a happy marriage; drafted in the first round; a Super Bowl victory; and a second chance to play in the “big game.” He’s also run up against quite a few walls: poverty, hunger, homelessness, struggles in school, bullying, job loss, brain injury, anxiety, and depression. What he knows now is that your wall can be your opportunity. In When Your Back’s Against the Wall, he offers encouragement and shows readers how to get back up—again, and again, and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593330920
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/08/2023
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	621,403
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Oher is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League for eight seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. He is perhaps best known as the subject of Michael Lewis’s bestselling book The Blind Side. He is the founder of the Oher Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to empowering kids to break the cycle of poverty and achieve their dreams through opportunities in education.

Don Yaeger has authored more than thirty books, including eleven New York Times bestsellers. He was a longtime associate editor at Sports Illustrated and is the host of the highly acclaimed Corporate Competitor Podcast. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, son, and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

2023-06-28
The former NFL player and movie subject combines a grim picture of poverty with a program for lifting oneself up.

Oher, the protagonist of Michael Lewis’ book The Blind Side and the 2009 film made from it, aged out of the foster care system and lived for several years on the streets before attending a private school and earning academic and athletic achievements. Both book and movie painted a rather rosier picture of his life than the reality. “Yes, there were the occasional hands held out to give me temporary relief,” writes the author, “but day in and day out it was just me and my own efforts.” He doesn’t mean to be ungrateful, but he suggests that anyone in a similar situation “requires individual lifelong dedication to persistent action in the face of adversity.” In the Memphis community in which he grew up, notes the author, few people seemed interested in getting a job and working one’s way upward. Oher mixes his advice with lessons from his pro football career—which, owing to frequent injury, was short-lived—including the mantra “Be a pro.” Of broader application, since not everyone can sign lucrative contracts with the NFL, are more quotidian cheers: Be positive. Take responsibility for your actions. Learn constantly since knowledge is “the real currency of the world” and allows one “to shape your life the way you want it.” Much of the advice would seem humdrum if Oher weren’t able to back it up with plentiful examples from his own struggles, including the depression that followed his forced retirement from football, struggles that he likens to treading water; “what got me through those hard times was dreaming of the day when I could stop treading and just rest.”

An extended pep talk best suited for devotees of self-help books.

Kirkus Reviews