I Beat the Odds_ From Homelessness, to the Blind Side, and Beyond - Michael Oher [66]
I ended up choosing a couple of my high school and college awards and framed jerseys to take up to Baltimore with me, but I didn't want to take them all. There's nothing like going back to visit your parents' house and seeing your old bedroom just how you left it. That's one of those little things that makes you feel at home again. But I wanted my new house to feel like a fun, relaxing place to be, too. I wanted it to be somewhere Collins and S.J. would want to bring friends, and where my new teammates might want to come and hang out. So Leigh Anne helped me find a nice pool table (with Baltimore Ravens pool balls, of course), and some comfy couches that are set up in front of an enormous TV so that we have a great place to watch movies. You can't beat watching The Godfather on a big screen! The end result was a great house that isn't too fancy or extravagant, just a nice place for me to live and have friends over.
I wanted to be careful about losing my head over money. It's very tempting when you've spent most of your life with empty pockets to want to go crazy and buy everything you've ever dreamed of with your first big paycheck. But there are so many stories out there about people who become famous, start raking in huge amounts of cash--and then suddenly are bankrupt and don't seem to understand how it happened.
USA Today ran a story not too long ago with the headline "Michael Oher cautions NFL rookies on value of money, learning to say 'no.'" I was glad that they wanted to shine a positive light on my feelings about the subject because some people seemed confused that I would choose to rent instead of buy a house my first year, or that I don't wear flashy jewelry. I wanted to get to know the area so that I could take my time deciding where I wanted to live. That way, when I bought a house, it would be a smart investment and not just a rush job of trying to find the biggest, fanciest place I could just because I could afford it. And tons of jewelry--what's the point? You can't wear it when you're playing or practicing, and since that's my job, that's where I'll be spending most of my time. Besides, I'm not really into the party scene or nightclubs, which is the only place where wearing that stuff seems to make sense for an athlete.
Now, I'll admit that I do have a soft spot for cars. I think it's because growing up, I was always depending on the Memphis city bus system or walking, so having a nice car was something I could really appreciate. I have three cars, but one of them always stays in Memphis so I have something to drive when I'm home. (S.J. generously volunteered to look after it while I'm away.) One stays in Baltimore, and the other sometimes I will drive back and forth if I don't fly. But beyond that, if I find that I'm tempted to buy another car, especially if it is a really expensive luxury kind, I'll buy a remote control car instead and play with it around the house or in the driveway. I have a couple of them, so when friends come over we can have races and just act like big kids. It may not be quite as much fun as driving the real thing, but I think it's a lot more fun than to wake up one morning and realize that I burned through every last cent of my contract.
JUST LIKE WHEN I GRADUATED from high school, the summer after I graduated from college was no time to relax, either. Training camp started almost as soon as I moved to Maryland in July; it was intense but started out our season in an exciting