In the game of football, if the quarterback is the most important position, then the second most important would have to be the left tackle. Why? Because, in the words of Leigh Anne Tuohy (as portrayed by Sandra Bullock), "Any woman knows the first check you write is for the mortgage; but the second is for the insurance." For those of us who are practically clueless when it comes to positions played in football, the left tackle is the player who protects the quarterback from his blind side. You're prize player is no good unless he has someone protecting him from that which he cannot see, therefore making the left tackle a critically important player.

This short insight into the anatomy of a football team is what opens what has to be the feel-good movie of the year, The Blind Side, from director John Lee Hancock. This based-on-true-events film depicts story of Michael Oher and how one woman and her family "had his back"—even though it wasn't their job to and they didn't need to—and by doing so created a champion, forever changing his life and their own in the process.

The story of Michael Oher, or Big Mike, is really the story of people, many times people he isn't even aware of, having his back. When Coach Cotton, head of athletics at Wingate Christian School, is first made aware of Mike's predicament—a homeless young African American man with stellar athletic ability, who has so far been passed from foster home to foster home—he takes it upon himself to find a place for him at Wingate. This is not an easy task. Wingate is a private Christian school, typically populated by young kids from wealthy, white, well-to-do families. When met with resistance from the administration (concerned with admitting someone with such a low GPA who may not necessarily be academically successful and may not exactly fit in) Coach Cotton reminds them of their mission as a school. He points to the word "Christian" on the wall and says, "We either take that seriously or we blow right over it." He goes on to plead, "Admit him because it's the right thing to do." It's funny how even an entity like a Christian school needs to be reminded from time to time to do the right thing. Thankfully, they listen.

Big Mike then proceeds to flounder a bit in his first days at Wingate. He clearly doesn't fit in, has some deep-seated academic problems that his teachers are all but clueless about how to deal with, and, not wanting to be a burden, has quietly slipped away from the place he was staying and is living on the street. When Leigh Anne Tuohy first sees Big Mike, walking down the street in shorts and a t-shirt on a cold November night, she could very well just believe him when he says he is on his way to a place to stay and doesn't need any help. Instead, feeling that all-too-familiar tug on her heart, she digs a little deeper, sees a young boy with some big needs that need to be met, and takes it upon herself to meet them. She takes him in, gives him a place to stay, feeds him, clothes him (which is very amusing to watch as he really is Big Mike), and over time, really embraces him as part of their family.

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