By ALEX SILVERMAN
KIRO Radio

A Tacoma middle school student was threatened with punishment for wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers shirt to school on Seahawks spirit day, the 13-year-old told KIRO-FM Friday.

Truman Middle School, which has a strict dress code, made an exception Friday, allowing students to wear Seahawks gear to show their support for the team.

"I thought it was kind of dumb that they said that, because we're Steelers fans," Grendon Bailie, a seventh-grader at Truman Middle School, said.

While Grendon admits he asked earlier in the week if he could wear his Steelers gear, and administrators said no, he said his father told him to go ahead.

"We're big fans, that's not fair," said Stoughton Bailie, Grendon's dad. "I wrote him a note to go along with it to show the school he wasn't just being a rogue bad kid."

When he arrived at school Friday, Grendon said the vice principal immediately threatened him with in-school suspension if he did not change into a regular uniform, which the school offered to provide. Grendon called his father, who came to school and drove him home.

Tacoma School District spokeswoman Stacy Flores said school officials made it clear that Seahawks pride was today's only exception to the dress code.

"The community has voted that it would be Seahawks colors day, not sports day," Flores said. "It was the parent that made the decision to take his son home rather than have him change his shirt."

"I don't plan on calling the ACLU or suing or anything," Bailie said. "That's ridiculous. What we're trying to do here is poking a stick at the Seahawks fans who have given us so much grief over the years."

Alex Silverman, 97.3 KIRO FM Reporter

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