It’s remarkable how much like Sandra Bullock’s brassy character in “The Blind Side” Leigh Anne Tuohyreally is. “I have zero tolerance for this [presidential] election,” Tuohy told us. “I would take the two candidates, tie them to a tree, and beat the ever-loving life out of them. . . . They’ve [wasted] a half-billion dollars [on advertising] while kids are going to bed hungry.” It’s that sort of no-nonsense talk that’s made Tuohy a hit on the speakers circuit since “The Blind Side,” and the reason she’s giving the keynote address at Thursday’s Horizons for Homeless Children’s annual women’s breakfast at the Westin Copley Place. (To refresh, the 2009, Oscar-nominated “Blind Side” stars Bullock as Tuohy, whose family adopted an occasionally homeless teenager namedMichael Oher, who’s become an All-Pro lineman with Baltimore Ravens.) “We’re honored to have Leigh Anne speak this year,” said Asa Fanelli, the Horizons for Homeless Children CEO. “Leigh Anne’s life story is testament to her dedication that supporting underserved children allows them to live their full potential.” Tuohy, who’s still in touch with Bullock and Tim McGraw, who played her husband in the movie, says she doesn’t expect everyone to adopt a 6-foot-4, 300-pound homeless kid, but “you’ve got two choices: Either you’re in the game or you’re on the sidelines.” Despite her busy schedule — she and her husband, who live in Memphis, also own dozens of fast-food franchises — Tuohy says she still makes it to all of Oher’s games, including last year’sAFC Championship at Gillette, when a missed field goal cost the Raven a trip to the Super Bowl. “Every kid on that field has got a mom sitting in the stands,” she says. “I might mutter ‘stupid idiot’ under my breath, but I have mouth management when I’m at games.” Read More.
By Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein