“I was hesitant to give it back,” Kennedy said.

Seated in the front row of the north end zone at Raymond James Stadium with longtime buddy (and season ticket holder) Riley Carvalis, Kennedy watched Evans snag a 9-yard Tom Brady touchdown pass in the first quarter’s waning moments.

“I was taking a video, and I switched it to my face, and then I went to switch it back to facing (the field), and when I did that, Mike Evans was running at me,” said Kennedy, a resident at Largo Medical Center.

Shortly thereafter, a Bucs staffer approached Kennedy, indicating Brady wanted the ball.

“I knew how much it meant to Tom,” said Kennedy, who was given a different ball after handing over the historic one, “and I was willing to trade.”