The Blind Side: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

One day in 2002, a man named Big Tony, accompanied by two teenagers, drives from the west side of Memphis to the east—in essence, from the heavily African-American part to the mostly white area. Big Tony’s real name is Tony Henderson. When his beloved mother died in 2002, she begged Tony to take his own son, Steven, out of west Memphis and give him a Christian education, so that he could become a preacher. Tony is trying to comply with his mother’s wishes and ensure that Steven, a bright young student, goes to a Christian school.

Big Tony and Steven lived in a house in west Memphis, where a boy named Michael Oher, nicknamed Big Mike, would sometimes crash. Michael had just finished ninth grade, and Tony guessed that he wouldn’t be returning for the tenth. Tony suspected that Michael was going to drop out of high school—in which case he stood a high chance of getting involved in drugs and/or going to jail. So Tony decided to take both Michael and his own son, Steven, to the same Christian academy: Briarcrest. Briarcrest is a de facto white school—very, very few of its students are black. However, Big Tony decides to try to enroll Michael and Steven.

The head coach for Briarcrest, Hugh Freeze, meets with Big Tony. Freeze is a deeply religious man, a successful football coach, and a successful girls’ basketball coach, too. He listens as Big Tony tells him about his son, Steven—an honor student—and claims that he’ll find a way to pay Steven’s way through school if financial aid doesn’t cover it. Big Tony introduces Freeze to Steven and Michael, and suggests that they might be able to play on the football team. Freeze is amazed by Michael—he’s never seen someone so big. After laying eyes on Michael, Freeze begins to consider enrolling Michael and Steven in Briarcrest.

A few days later, Big Tony delivers Steven and Michael’s transcripts to Briarcrest. Steven is a great student, and he’s accepted on scholarship without further question. Michael, on the other hand, is a poor student—however, he’s clearly going to be a great athlete. Hugh Freeze passes Michael’s transcript on to the school principal, Steve Simpson. Simpson is incredulous: Michael has an IQ of 80, with an “ability to learn” in the sixth percentile. Michael has been advancing from grade to grade, but mostly because his teachers don’t want to deal with him again. Michael has perhaps the least impressive academic record of any private school applicant Simpson has ever seen. However, Hugh Freeze has already phoned the Briarcrest president, a football fan, and told him about Michael’s (presumed) talent, and the president has encouraged Simpson to accept Michael. Simpson, who hasn’t been the Briarcrest principal for long, reluctantly decides to admit Michael, on the condition that he take a home study program for one semester.

Two months later, Simpson gets a call from Big Tony. Michael, Tony explains, has been trying to study for the home study program, without success. Now, it’s too late for Michael to enroll in public school. Simpson realizes that, in trying to be generous to Michael, he’s barred him from getting any education at all. Feeling sympathetic, he admits Michael, but warns Tony that Michael won’t play sports until he raises his grades.

Michael Oher enrolls in Briarcrest’s special needs program. The teacher, a woman named Jennifer Graves, is unsure how to teach Michael—he never talks. She also realizes that he’s never seen a Bible, and that English is “almost like a second language” to him. After noticing that Michael doesn’t say hello to anyone, Graves encourages him to be friendly with children, or else he’ll scare them. Later on, she notices him smiling and shaking hands with a group of small kids.

Within a few weeks, several teachers have recommended that Michael leave Briarcrest—he’s clearly not ready for classes. Even in his weightlifting class, he declines to change into his uniform—all day long, he’s passive. However, Michael’s biology teacher takes it upon herself to go through Michael’s test with him; afterwards, she realizes that, even though he’s quiet, he knows some of the class material.

After school, Michael Oher sits in the stands and watches basketball practice. The basketball coach, Sean Tuohy, notices Michael. Sean is a self-made millionaire, but unlike most rich people in Memphis, he doesn’t have much respect for tradition and decorum; furthermore, he’s uncommonly kind and conciliatory to black Briarcrest students. Once, he brings the entire Briarcrest track team—mostly black students—to the local country club, and lets them cheer for Briarcrest students in a tennis tournament (typically, you’re not supposed to make any noise while watching tennis).

Sean sympathizes with black students at Briarcrest, partly because they tend to be the poorest students—growing up, Sean was usually the poorest child in school. He played basketball on scholarship at the University of Mississippi, AKA Ole Miss, where he set many records and led the team to its only championship. Sean loved basketball, but he hated the powerlessness of having to play to pay his way through college. After graduating, he turned down an NBA draft to become a businessman. A decade later, he owned a chain of fast food restaurants. Since the restaurants ran themselves, Sean became a basketball coach for Briarcrest.

One day, during practice, Sean asks Michael Oher what he ate for lunch that day, and asks him if he needs money; Michael says he doesn’t. The next day, Sean, recognizing that Michael isn’t telling the truth, arranges for Michael to get free lunch. A few months later, Sean and his wife, Leigh Anne, are driving by when they notice Michael sitting outside in the snow, wearing shorts. At Leigh Anne’s insistence, Sean stops the car and asks Michael where he’s going. Michael admits that he’s going to the school gym because it’s warm there. Leigh Anne begins to cry when she hears this.

The next day, Leigh Anne picks up Michael from school and takes him to buy a jacket. She’s a remarkable woman, not least because although she was “raised to loathe black people,” while she was still a young women she rejected such views. Years later, when asked why she was so kind to Michael, she replies, “God gives people money to see how you’re going to handle it.” While buying a jacket, Leigh Anne asks Michael who takes care of him—Michael won’t answer. However, she slowly learns that Michael has never met his father, and that his mother is an alcoholic. To avoid making Michael think that he’s accepting charity, Leigh Anne says, “the Briarcrest basketball team needs its players looking spiffy.” Not wanting to make Michael uncomfortable by taking him to a place with mostly white clientele, Leigh Anne asks Michael where he buys clothes; he names a crime-ridden place in the Memphis inner-city, and asks Leigh Anne if she’s okay going there. Leigh Anne replies, “you’re going to take care of me.”

In the store, Leigh Anne quickly realizes that almost nothing fits Michael—he’s too big and tall. As Leigh Anne tries to convince Michael to choose some clothes, everyone stares at them: Michael is, literally, three times Leigh Anne’s size. Afterwards, Leigh Anne buys Michael food, and gives him extra food to take home. She drives Michael to a house, which he says is his mother’s, and, taking the food and clothing, he says goodbye and leaves. For reasons Leigh Anne can’t describe, she finds herself drawn to helping Michael: he’s so gentle, in spite of his intimidating appearance.

The next day, Leigh Anne devises a way to clothe Michael—get hand-me-downs from NFL athletes—only to learn that nobody in the NFL is as big as Michael. Michael’s measurements are so enormous that Patrick Ramsey, her friend from the Washington Redskins, assumes Leigh Anne has gotten the measurements wrong. Ramsey asks Leigh, “Who is this kid?”