Wasn't a check.
It was three tickets to the SB for Terry Oder and his two friends who were with him at the AFCCG.
I read the story about the ball a few days after the AFCCG in one of the newspapers.
For Mr. Kraft the ball was special as the kick Mrs. Kraft's spirit may have influenced, but those three fans were at the game because they were childhood friends who had gotten together a few weeks earlier at the funeral for their friend who died an untimely death and who decided that life was too short and uncertain and that they should cherish the moments and get together more often. They attended the AFCCG partly as a celebration of their friendship and of their late friend's life. To them, that ball sailing wide and landing in their laps was a sign of their late buddy.
So when Dr. Oder handed that ball to Mr. Kraft......well, I would assume that was a poignant moment.