PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – It could be called a rookie mistake.

First-year New England Patriots linebacker Tully Banta-Cain left his diamond-studded Super Bowl ring in a bathroom at Providence Place Mall on Saturday, when he removed it to wash his hands. He returned minutes later, but the 14-karat white gold ring was gone. He alerted mall security and filed a report with police.

On Monday, Banta-Cain was reunited with the championship ring, thanks to Lou Schorr, a fan who found the ring on the edge of a sink in the mall, Schorr and a team spokesman said Tuesday.

“I saw this clunker of a ring, just sitting there,” Schorr told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I carefully picked it up, placed it in a paper towel and put it in my pocket. Then I quickly went home.”

Schorr, of Waltham, Mass., wasn’t sure if the ring was the real thing, so he checked it against pictures on the team’s Web site.

The Super Bowl XXXVIII rings were given to the players by Patriots owner Robert Kraft on June 13. The ring Schorr found had Banta-Cain’s name on it, his No. 48, and the phrase “15 straight, undefeated at home.”

Schorr said he was a “nervous wreck” when he realized the ring belonged to a Super Bowl champ.

“This was serious stuff. There were so many diamonds it was like getting a bolt of lightning in your eyes when you looked at it,” he said.

Schorr held onto the ring, showing it to friends and sleeping with it under his pillow.

He contacted the Patriots Monday morning. He said he never thought about keeping the ring, said to be worth more than $20,000.

Banta-Cain picked up the ring from Schorr’s office in Canton, Mass., on Monday afternoon, after Schorr’s co-workers posed for pictures with it.

“He was so thankful and such a gentleman. This poor guy had probably been devastated,” Schorr said.

Team spokesman Stacey James said Banta-Cain was relieved and thankful.

For his honesty, Schorr received autographed pictures of Banta-Cain and has been invited to the Patriots home opener against Indianapolis.