Book of the Week: The Blind Side

09 Feb 2015

I liked Flash Boys, also by Michael Lewis, so I decided to give The Blind Side a try. The book is a mix of Michael Oher’s story of a poor black kid being picked up by a rich white family because of his physical gifts and the changing way football is played. The Blind Side Bill Walsh developed the west coast offense where the quarterback throws quick short timed passes and the receiver gains yards after the catch instead of long 20 yard bombs. This shifted teams from calling running plays to passing plays, because they became more effective. This made the quarterback more important. For the predominantly right-handed quarterbacks to release the ball in time to complete the pass, they needed protection on their blind side (left side) or they would be drilled into the ground by the defense end. Michael Oher played the left tackle position, which protects the blind side.