Wearing a Denver Broncos jersey in the state of Washington right now takes some guts, but it apparently also took one teenager’s job.
Nathaniel Wentz claims he was fired from his job at the Odyssey 1 family entertainment center in Tacoma, Wash., after he showed up to work in his Broncos gear last Sunday. The 17-year-old showed off his blue and orange pride after his manager had told employees they could wear jerseys to work on the day of the AFC and NFC championship games to show support, according to KUSA-TV in Denver. The support must have only extended to the Seahawks, however, as Wentz was asked to go home and change into a standard uniform.
Wentz’s father said he called to speak to the store’s owner once his son returned home, but he never received a call back, so Nathaniel decided to stay home. The next day, he discovered he had been fired.
“To show support for The Seattle Seahawks on game day, our employees may choose to wear a Seahawks Jersey in place of our standard uniform, which is required,” Odyssey 1 said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. “To prevent any possible conflicts, the option of wearing other teams’ jerseys is not allowed. The employee reported to work in an unauthorized uniform and was asked to change into a standard uniform. Soon after he left to change into an accepted uniform, we received a phone call stating that he was not returning to work, leaving his position unfilled and creating extra stress for the staff covering his job on a busy weekend day.”
The Seahawks and the Broncos will square off in the Super Bowl on Feb. 2. Wentz can at least rest easy knowing that he can spend his Sunday cheering on Peyton Manning instead of working that day.
Photo via Twitter/@9NEWS
