Kickoff went into the stands

[Otis99]

I hate to digress from the forum's regularly scheduled self-loathing after the Chiefs' loss and the BCS results but I was wondering if anyone could answer this one for me.

I forget exactly when but sometime during the second half Nate Kaeding kicked off to us. It was a hell of a kick and easily reached the end zone, finally taking an odd bounce and landing in the hands of a fan in the first row. Very shortly after, the ball handling guys and/or security came over and it looked like they asked for the ball back. After a brief exchange, the fan decided that rather than giving the ball back, he would prefer to toss it about 25 rows behind him since if he couldn't have it, no one could.

From my seats in section 134, we saw this at a bit of a distance but everyone around me had a good laugh when the guy tossed the ball away from whoever those guys were that wanted it back. Why would they want it back so badly? I thought I once read there something like 30 or 40 game balls were prepared before every game. And it's not like balls get hurled into the stands very often.

I mean I know this isn't baseball, but what's the harm? What would they have done if the guy ran off with the ball or stuck a knife into it and then handed it back? Forfeit the game?

I'm pretty sure the ball was eventually returned to the officials demanding it. I don't know if the fan that originally caught it was ejected or not (although I'm curious if anyone closer than I could tell the rest of the story).

Anyone know the deal?