Michael Oher

 Tony Hamilton, the character who is referred to in the film as Tony Hamilton, is based on Tony Henderson (aka Big Tony) who was an actual mentor for young people within his community. Recognizing Michael's unstable home situation, Tony took Michael in. Tony remembers, "He was a great kid." Tony recalls that he remained calm and kept to himself. Tony was able to take his teenage son Steven along to Briarcrest Christian School. He also took Michael (20/20). In real life, Tony worked across town as a mechanic, as stated in the movie (Evolution of a Game)In the movie the Christian school which Michael attends is called Wingate and is the site of the Wingate Crusaders football team. We discovered the true name of the school: Briarcrest, which is home to the Briarcrest Saints, through our research into Michael Oher's story. "It wasn't a conflict There were only questions," Briarcrest president Mark Merrill declared. He pointed out that there were a number of school officials who were concerned over instances of "artistic license" in the original script which was stretching the truth. -CommercialAppeal.com