At approximately 6:25 p.m., Anderson announced that kickoff for the AFC Championship Game was being delayed 10 minutes, from 6:40 to 6:50 p.m., to allow for the conclusion of the NFC Championship Game, and that the rest of the pre-game schedule would be adjusted accordingly. According to Richard Farley, the NFL Security Representative assigned to New England, at the time of Anderson‟s announcement, Jim McNally was sitting on a trunk pushed against the back wall of the sitting room of the Officials Locker Room, with the bags of game balls in close proximity. Farley recalls seeing the bags in the dressing room area earlier in the afternoon, and understood that
at some point they must have been moved to the front sitting room. Anderson also recalls that McNally, with Anderson‟s permission, had
moved the ball bags from the dressing room area towards the sitting room area shortly after the officials returned from
the players‟ walk-through. Anderson understood that McNally was moving the balls to the sitting room area of the locker room, so that it would be more convenient for the officials to pick them up on their way out to the field. Anderson said that it is typical for locker room attendants throughout the League to help move the game balls towards the front of the locker room, but that the footballs do not leave the locker room until the officials give express permission for them to be brought to the field at or near the time the officials also walk to the field. Numerous other game officials described a similar practice.
Shortly after the revised schedule was sorted out, members of the officiating crew began to leave the Officials Locker Room to give each team its two-minute warning and escort the players to the field. Various NFL personnel also began to leave the locker room and make
their way to the field or other areas of the stadium. By 6:35p.m., all of the members of the officiating crew other than Anderson, Veteri, Blakeman and Yette had left the Officials Locker Room. When the remaining officials walked into the sitting room area on their way to the field, all four were surprised to find that the ball bags were not there. Both Anderson and Veteri immediately asked Farley where the footballs were. Farley checked for the ball bags in the back part of the locker room (where he saw the bags of back-up balls) and in the adjacent Chain Gang Locker Room, but could not find them. When it was suggested that McNally had or may have taken them to the field, Anderson responded that “he‟s not supposed to do that.” Anderson also stated that “we have to find the footballs.” Blakeman recalls that although Anderson is usually calm and composedleading up to a game, Anderson was visibly concerned and uncharacteristically used an expletive when the game balls could not be located. The other officials were similarly surprised and concerned. None of the officials in the locker room at the time realized that the game balls had been removed from the locker room until they were ready to go to the field for the start of the game, and all expected that the balls would not leave the locker room until it was time for them to take the field.
