Michael Oher's 4 Kids: All About Kobi, Kierstin, MJ and Naivi

Michael Oher is a former NFL player and Super Bowl champion, two-time author and inspiration behind the Oscar-winning film The blind side. But one of his most important roles is being a dad: Oher shares four children with his wife, Tiffany Roy.

However, Oher’s road to fatherhood was anything but easy. He was born in Memphis, Tenn., to Denise Oher, who struggled with drug addiction, and Michael Jerome Williams, who was in and out of prison before he was killed when Oher was in high school. Oher, who had 11 other siblings, spent most of his childhood — which he later described to PEOPLE as “traumatizing” — either homeless or in foster care.

In 2004, Oher was adopted by the Tuohy family while he was a student at Briarcrest Christian School in Eads, Tenn. According to a recent legal filing, Oher went from “alone” and “almost penniless” to graduating high school and accepting a football scholarship to the University of Mississippi. In a statement to PEOPLE, Tuohy family attorney Marty claims Tuohy lied about his adoption Singer called the “strange claims” made by Oher “painful and absurd.”

Oher was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009 and won the Super Bowl in 2013. Now that he’s retired from the NFL, he’s never forgotten his childhood — and vowed to be a better parent because of it.

“I know I won’t do anything to bring children into this world until I provide them with a good life with a solid family,” he wrote in his 2011 book. I beat the odds: from homelessness to being blind and beyond. “I’m going to be a great father, I’m going to do all the right things and make sure I’m there for them.”

And according to his wife Roy – whom he married in November 2022 after 17 years together – Oher has lived up to his promise to be a “great father”. The couple is raising four children together: sons Kobi and MJ and daughters Kierstin and Naiva.

Who is Michael Oher’s wife? All about Tiffany Roy

“He is … an amazing father to our children,” Roy told PEOPLE in 2022. “I love his love for his family and our children. He is a real dad and no one can beat him.”

Still, Oher worries about how his children will be affected by the way he is portrayed blind side, as he said The New York Times Magazine in August 2024. “If my kids can’t do something in class, will their teacher think, ‘Their dad is stupid — is that why they don’t get it?’ ” he said.

Here’s everything you need to know about Michael Oher’s four children: Kobi, Kierstin, MJ and Naiva.

Kobe Oher

Photo by Kathy Thomas

Kobi is Roy’s son from a previous relationship.

Oher revealed in his 2023 book. When Your Back’s Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned Through a Life of Adversitythat each of his four children – including Kobi – holds them to high standards, especially when it comes to schoolwork.

“My wife, Tiffany, tells friends, ‘Michael is difficult when it comes to schoolwork. He always had expectations of our children. He is strict with them because he is strict with himself,’ wrote Oher.

He continued: “He’s right. I hold all my children, Kobi, Kierstin, MJ and Naivi, to the same standards. In our house there was – and still is – neither C nor D allowed.”

But Kobi is not only responsible for getting good grades. As the oldest child, he had a special responsibility when it came to Oher and Roy’s wedding in November 2022: walking Roy down the aisle.

They walked down the aisle to Beyonce’s “Halo” and shared a sweet moment together before Kobi walked her down the aisle.

“I heard my son ask me, ‘Are you ready?’ and I was like, ‘Of course I am, I’ve been waiting for this magical day for a long time,'” Roy told PEOPLE.

Kierstin Oher

Kierstin is Roy’s daughter from a previous relationship.

Although Oher and Roy are very private about their parenting and rarely post about their children on social media, Oher wrote a sweet tribute to Kierstin and Kobi in his 2023 book. When Your Back’s Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned Through a Life of Adversity.

“Kobi and Kierstin, having you as mine taught me patience and helped me grow into the man I respect today,” Oher wrote. “I’ve grown so much with you.”

MJ Oher

Sean Tuohy Instagram

Oher and Tiffany welcomed their first child together — a son named MJ — in June 2013. Oher described the birth in his book 2023 and how it changed him as a man.

“The same year I became a Super Bowl champion, I would also become a dad,” he wrote. “It was a personal twist at the end of one of my most successful seasons that would open my heart completely.”

Oher continued, “When my son was born, everything changed. My life was centered on him… he became my greatest treasure.”

Oher described how MJ was born eight weeks early at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, weighing just four pounds — “not much heavier than a football,” he wrote — and fit in the palm of his hand.

“He had the smallest diaper I had ever seen in my life,” Oher recalled in his book.

Because he was born prematurely, MJ spent some time in the neonatal intensive care unit, but Oher said he “never worried about him because I knew he was special.”

“He was small but strong,” Oher continued. “He got into a fight.”

Oher’s predictions were correct, and MJ—now 10 years old—started playing sports. But instead of playing football, MJ started playing T-ball at age 6, according to Oher’s 2023 book. Regardless of the sport, it was a moment Oher looked forward to as a father.

“Of all the milestones I looked forward to as a father, spending time with my son and coaching him in sports was at the top of the list,” Oher wrote. “I’m trying to shape my relationship with my son the same way I wish it would have been for me if I had a father who could have been there. I expect and strive for greatness, but I also leave room for soothing love.”

Naive Oher

Michael Oher Instagram

Naivi is Oher and Roy’s youngest child. Although the couple did not publicly reveal when they had their youngest daughter, Oher called Naivi one of the “greatest gifts of my life” in When your back is against the wall.

“My greatest achievement in life is bringing you into this world and raising you in a way I couldn’t,” Oher wrote of Naiva and her older brother, MJ.

He continued, “I want to give you the life I wish I had when I grew up. Your existence brings so much love and purpose to my life.”

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Source: HIS Education