TAMPA, Fla. -- It may have been just a rubber ring, but to Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Cecil Shorts III, it was so much more than that.

It was his wedding ring, the one he wears in place of his actual wedding band, and it got lost last week when he handed his gloves to a fan in the stands, 27-year-old Air Force staff sergeant Josh Ortega.

After the Bucs' 36-10 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Ortega gave Shorts his ring back, and Shorts had a special surprise for the lifelong Bucs fan, who is stationed at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base -- an autographed jersey. Coincidentally, it was the Bucs' annual Salute to Service game, where the team honors members of the armed forces.

"He deserves it. ... [The ring] means a lot. I thought I'd never see it again," Shorts said. "I just thanked him for being so kind."

The moment was captured by a local reporter.

Air Force SSgt @JoshOrtega22 returns @CecilShortsIII wedding ring. How it ended up with Ortega is quite the story. Watch @10NewsWTSP at 11 pic.twitter.com/AZQa7hNgMi — Justin Granit (@JustinGranit) November 14, 2016

After the Bucs' "Thursday Night Football" game on Nov. 3, a 43-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Shorts gave his gloves away but didn't realize he was missing his ring until he got to the locker room. "I thought it was gone. I was like, 'It's over with,'" Shorts said. He just happened to be checking his Twitter account Tuesday night, the players' day off, when he saw a message from Ortega.

@CecilShortsIII when you gave me your gloves, your wedding ring was in it. I'll return it next game! — Josh (@JoshOrtega22) November 4, 2016

"I was like, 'Oh wow. Thank you!'" Shorts said. "That was kind of him. I thought that was pretty cool. ... He told me, 'I know what it means. I don't want [anything] from you, just so I can give you the ring back.'"

All Ortega wanted to do was the right thing. He ended up making a special friend out of it.

"I knew what the sentimental value behind it meant, and that's what motivated me the most to give it back to him," Ortega said. "I was just surprised that he did that. I then introduced him to my dad and he told me how thankful he was. He said I saved him from his wife!

"It meant so much to me, especially of how big of a fan I am of the team and entire organization," said Ortega, who coaches high school and youth football and has traveled to countless Bucs home and away games, no matter where his service has taken him. He's currently part of the 927th Air Refueling Wing and has been deployed to the Middle East three times.

He even flew an American flag in honor of two longtime Buccaneers players -- Gerald McCoy and Vincent Jackson -- during a mission last year.

"Those flags flew over Afghanistan and Iraq 37 times together," Ortega said. "Every single combat flight during my deployment."

Shorts said he wants to come visit Ortega's teams. Ortega thinks Shorts could really impact Ortega's high school players.

"It speaks volumes to what type of person he is," Ortega said. "He is a professional athlete who's always busy, especially during the season, and he's willing to spend some of his free time to talk to the kids who look up to people like him, who want to be like him."