National Football League

Boy sent home due to Steelers jersey

Published Jan. 14, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

If you want to show your team spirit at this school, it had better be the right team.

A Washington state schoolboy was sent home Friday after wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey on a specially designated day of support for the local Seattle Seahawks, according to a report.

Grendon Bailie, a 13-year-old at Tacoma's Truman Middle School, was sent home Friday for what school administrators deemed inappropriate clothing, Seattle's komonews.com reported.

The school has a strict dress code and said it had lifted it that day only for Seahawks apparel or colors. The school had also specifically warned students not to wear anything besides their uniforms or Seahawks garb, and Bailie even asked if it was acceptable to wear Steelers gear but was told no, the report said.

Still, Bailie wishes he could have shown support for his own team.

"Not everyone is a Seahawks fan — and if they got to wear their team stuff then I should, too," he said, according to the report.

Bailie's father sent him to school with a note explaining his decision, but the report says school officials refused to read it.

The Seahawks face the Bears this weekend in an NFC divisional round playoff game. The Steelers host the Ravens in an AFC playoff clash.

Pittsburgh beat Seattle 21-10 five years ago in Super Bowl XL.