On the week of January 12, Ayden Lasley was told by one of his assistant principals that he was no longer allowed to show his support of “Ball So Hard University.”
     Ayden, 12, wore a “Ball So Hard University” sweatshirt to South Hampton Middle School. Along with this phrase, the sweatshirt sported recognizable Raven’s symbols on it and the phrase “Raven’s Nation.”
     “Ball So Hard University” is a phrase created by Raven’s player Terrell Suggs, who claims the school is his alma mater.
     Bill Lasley, Ayden’s father, said “it’s so blatantly obvious that this sweatshirt is talking about the Ravens, and playing hard, and putting your hear into it.”
     The school claimed that the sweatshirt sent “mixed messages,” and Lasley was told by a school representative that the phrase was banned by a school policy. The assistant principal told Ayden that he either had to take the sweatshirt off or turn it inside out.
     “They just help you express yourself, they aren’t inappropriate,” junior Ceira Bailey said, “I don’t really see why they’re bad.”
     NH assistant principal Colleen Kaplan disagrees.
     “I think they are inappropriate,” Kaplan says, “but it [if we ask a student to remove the sweatshirt] would have to be a decision as an administrative team.”
     Kaplan does not feel that South Hampton administrators were wrong, saying “if they don’t think it’s [the “Ball So Hard” sweatshirt] is appropriate, they don’t think it’s appropriate.
     Assistant principal Mark Truszkowski said that “initially, someone read it [the sweatshirt] and thought it meant something different. Once they found out what it really meant, they decided it was okay for the student to wear.”
     Later in the week, the school reversed their decision, no longer calling the sweatshirt problematic.
     Suggs later found out about the controversy, and told one of his employees for his website tsizzle55.com, James Wilhide, to “do whatever he had to do” to contact Ayden.
     “He’ll [Suggs] bend over backwards for you,” Wilhide said. “He’s definitely for the fans.”
     The Saturday before the Ravens home playoff game against the Houston Texans, Wilhide made a personal visit to the Lasley’s home. With him he brought a “Ball So Hard” sweatshirt, t-shirt, magnets, and tickets to the playoff game, for Ayden, from Suggs.
     Lasley later tweeted Suggs, thanking him for the generosity.
     Suggs replied, “No problem. It will be my honor.”
     The playoff game was the first NFL game that Ayden ever attended.