Pasadena police denied a published report that...

Pasadena police denied a published report that a gun picked up by a football player after Super Bowl XXI had been dropped by a fan rather than by a police officer.

“Believe me, if a fan carried a gun out on the field, we wouldn’t keep it a secret. We’re in the habit of reporting the facts, just the facts, and that’s what we like to deal with,” police Lt. Lynn Froistad said.

He said he and other police officials looked at videotape of the incident and had discussed the incident with the officer who lost the gun. He said the officer’s gun slipped out of his holster when he tripped while leading a fan away from the field after Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos.

Giants receiver Phil McConkey picked up the gun and handed it to a security guard, who returned it to the officer, Fristad said.

The San Jose Mercury News had quoted an unidentified source who reported that a fan had carried the gun onto the field, then dropped the weapon when a security guard grabbed him. The fan vanished into the crowd afterward, the source said.

John Rawlings, executive sports editor for the Mercury News, said: “I know who the source for the story was, and the source was very reliable. There’s no reason for me to question the validity of what we were told.”

The newspaper said the story was confirmed by an NFL official who also asked not to be identified.