• Arriving to his locker, Brady found his shoulder pads and jersey waiting on a folding chair. He separated the two items, stuffing his jersey inside the personal carry-on bag that was sitting inside his locker. He then left his shoulder pads on the floor, where they were eventually collected by an equipment manager and placed into a large travel bag in front of his locker.

• At some point after separating his jersey and pads, Brady left his locker area and mingled with others in the still-closed room. At one point, he stopped to take a photo with family members of a Patriots executive, holding up five fingers to signify the team’s fifth title. By this point, Brady had informed league officials that he wished to spend the rest of the night with teammates and family, and wanted to refuse additional media requests.

• Just before 10:17 p.m. [Central time], the locker room was opened to the waiting media, which filed in and broke into groups to interview various players. Brady returned to his locker by 10:20 p.m. and looked into the bag in his locker. At that time, reporters standing nearby heard him tell an NFL employee that his jersey was missing from his bag.