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Ohio student punished for wearing Steelers jersey

Associated Press

NORWALK, Ohio - School officials have apologized to a boy who was forced to sit in a corner for wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers black and gold jersey on his school's Cleveland Browns' spirit day.

Ten-year-old Eric Nutter and his mother, Debbie, have long been Steelers fans.

So when Western Reserve Middle School marked the return of the Browns to the NFL on Friday, the fifth-grader didn't wear the Ohio team's brown and orange.

He came to the school wearing a Kor-dell Stewart jersey, honoring Pittsburgh's quarterback.

While he expected some flack from his classmates, he was surprised when his teacher, Brent Maillard, had him turn his desk around in the back of the classroom.

"I had to turn around the whole time to see what was going on," Eric told The [Lorain, Ohio] Morning Journal, in a story published Wednesday. "I didn't like it."

After about two hours, Eric changed into a Cleveland Indians T-shirt for gym class. He kept the baseball team shirt on for the rest of the day, and he was allowed to place his desk back in its normal position.

Eric's devotion was rewarded Sunday night, when the Steelers beat the Browns 43-0 in Cleveland.

Maillard and Thomas Turner, the school's principal, met with Eric's parents Monday and found out they were angry after the boy came home from school in tears.

"Until then, we didn't have any idea at all that he had been upset," Turner said. "On Friday, he kind of thought that it was funny. His desk was only moved back a couple of feet, and he only had to sit sideways.

"But it was all in fun. Apparently at some point his feelings were hurt."

Eric told WKYC-TV in Cleveland that he got a phone call from Stewart.

"He asked me how good I was doing in school and told me that if I have any more problems with his jersey that he'll come down and help me," Eric said.

Eric's stepfather, Robert Counts, has asked Western Reserve Superintendent Dennis Bahmer to discipline the teacher, who has been verbally reprimanded.

"We expressed our concerns to the family and apologized, and the teacher did the same," Bahmer said. "It's one of those things that started out in fun, but for some reason was not taken that way."